Times Past and Times to Come
by Persephone of Peridot
Summary: Harry is fighting with Voldemort when a magical explosion sends him into the time of the Marauders.How will Harry deal with meeting his dead parents as well as the traitor that killed them?Will the Marauders turn out to be all Harry hoped for?Pre HBP
1. Chapter 1: Running

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

(A/N: Looking back I really did not like my first chapter so I decided to rewrite it. Hopefully you guys consider this an improvement. I do. Enjoy!)

**Chapter 1: Running**

Running.

The process of putting one foot in front of the other at a fast pace.

It was an action that had saved Harry many times before. He could only pray to any deity out there that it would do so again.

He dodged quickly to the right to avoid a stream of red light that would have assured his capture again. He felt a sharp pain shoot through him and his breath caught in his throat. He quickly wrapped an arm around his broken ribs in an attempt to hold them steady and continued to run.

He continued in this fashion for what felt like hours but what was really only a few minutes when suddenly a deep violet curse shot out low to the ground and hit Harry on his left leg.

He let out a cry as he felt his leg break and collapsed to the ground, his hands automatically moving to his new injury and grasped it tightly tears streaming down his face.

He lay there, his shuddering gasps for air the only sound in the silent clearing. The shouts of the Death Eaters who had been pursuing him through the forest had suddenly faded away.

Harry felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, knowing in his heart what was about to happen. It seemed his infamous luck had finally run out this time.

Sure enough, from between the trees a tall figure clothed in black emerged and made his way over on near silent feet to Harry.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Voldemort said softly, "You didn't really believe you could escape me, did you?"

Harry gritted his teeth and glared up at him through streaming eyes but said nothing.

"You should have known that I would never let you get away alive," Voldemort continued running a long, cold finger down Harry's face, making his head practically split open in pain, "You've been far too much of a nuisance for me to let that happen."

"Well, you were never very good at keeping me around in the past," Harry replied, trying to keep the pain out of his voice, "So, I figured it was worth a shot."

Voldemort withdrew his hand, crimson eyes flashing dangerously,.

"Not this time, Potter," Voldemort said coldly, pulling his wand out of his robes, "There's nowhere to run and no one can save you."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what was going to happen. He was going to die. And he would die curled up on the ground before his murderer. His parents would be so ashamed.

"Avada Kedav-"

Suddenly a calm voice entered the clearing cutting off the deadly incantation before the spell could leave Voldemort's wand.

"What if someone can, Tom?"

Harry eyes snapped open, hardly daring to believe it.

But there he was, in all his starry robed glory. By some miracle, Albus Dumbledore had come, twinkling eyes and all.

Harry could have fainted with relief. That man was the most welcome sight Harry had seen in three months.

Voldemort hissed, whipping around to glare at the Headmaster, enraged at the interruption.

"This is none of your concern, old man," Voldemort snarled, eyes smoldering, "Go back to your school and take care of your little mudbloods. Who knows how much longer they will be around to go back to?"

Dumbledore's smile did not waver, but his eyes hardened as he banished Harry's wand to his side, "On the contrary, as Harry is one of my students, this is very much my concern. And I take my job very seriously, Tom, as you well know."

Harry watched as something unrecognizable flittered across Voldemort's face before it was replaced by rage.

"Then die with him," he hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"

Dumbledore sidestepped the spell and it flew into the trees behind him, lighting them with a burst of bright, green flames.

"Armiso," said Dumbledore softly and a blue spell flew towards Voldemort. The Dark Lord quickly turned on the spot and vanished, reappearing behind the headmaster.

Harry watched as spells flew back and forth, with increasing intensity. He also became acutely away of how he was feeling progressively worse. He could feel blood leaking out of his leg where the broken bone had pierced his skin as he fell, and his vision was beginning to blur, making the duel become mere flashes of light being traded between two shadowy figures. He almost felt ready to cry in frustration at being so helpless, lying on the ground while Dumbledore fought on his behalf.

Finally, Voldemort seemed to tire of the fight, deciding it was time to end it. He turned viciously on Dumbledore and raised his wand.

Without speaking a word a red glow began to grow at the end of his wand, slowly growing in power and intensity until it became a roiling orb of scarlet and black energy that seemed to be struggling to release itself from the end of his wand.

Dumbledore's eyes widened as he watched the sphere of energy emerging and immediately brandished his own wand a gold glow beginning to appear.

The concentrated, raw magic expanded at an alarming rate until, with a great flourish, both wizards sent them flying at their opponent at the same moment.

Harry watched in slow motion as the magic orbs glided through the air toward each other and then smashed together. There was a pause and then a blinding white light erupted from the epicenter of the collision, blinding everyone in the vicinity, which was quickly followed by a shockwave that knocked both Voldemort and Dumbledore off their feet.

They all lay still for a few minutes, recovering from the power of the magical explosion and letting their eyes adjust as the white light slowly faded away.

Dumbledore blinked furiously, trying to clear the spots from his eyes and looked around wildly.

Harry was no where to be seen.

"What have you done with him?" Dumbledore demanded, feeling panic fill him at the thought of losing Harry once more.

Voldemort looked up sharply at that and glanced to the spot where Harry had last lain, only to find him gone.

His whole body began to tremble and his crimson eyes flashed with rage.

"POTTER!!" Voldemort screeched in fury.

* * *

Harry watched as the orbs collided and saw the magic contract before exploding. A blinding white light blanketed the clearing and Harry felt the backlash wash over him, making his skin tingle.

Suddenly, Harry began to experience the sensation of being tugged violently in many different directions and the light around him faded to reveal a multicolored vortex that swirled around him.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight down the nausea caused by watching the neon colors whirl around. He held his wand desperately in his good hand, groping for any kind of anchor in the chaos that surrounded him.

Finally the tugging began to lessen and the colors began to fade, being replaced once more by white light.

The light flashed and suddenly Harry's feet slammed onto the ground. A blinding pain shot up his bad leg and it gave out from under him, sending him toppling to the ground.

Harry moaned in pain, gripping his leg weakly in a vain attempt to ease the throbbing.

He took a deep shuddering breath as his vision began to fade. He was dying. He knew it. The Boy Who Lived wasn't going to live after all.

Just as he began to give into the temptation of eternal sleep, he heard faint shouts and shadowy figures filled his failing sight.

Harry blinked slowly, his head lolling to the side as he took in the features of the person nearest him.

It looked like a boy. He had glasses and hair that looked awfully familiar…

Harry's eyes widened in recognition. There was no way. And yet…

"Dad?" Harry whispered in disbelief.

Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2:Who's he?

Disclaimer: Wouldn't life be great if I owned Harry Potter. Now life sucks because I don't! BOO HOO! Tear tear!

(A/N: Next chapter already? Boy, I'm good. I just couldn't leave you hanging on that. It was just too cruel. I hate cliffys! Well, before I get into a rant, which I know you will find very boring and annoying, here is the next chapter! )

Chapter 2: Who's he and why does he look like James?

"Dad?" a 16 year old James Potter repeated confused.

He and his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew had been taking a walk by the lake that evening in the grounds. It was a cool night so no one else was out, or so they thought. They had just crested a slight hill, talking animatedly about their latest prank, when James noticed a figure standing by the lake which a few moments later collapsed. He yelled to get his friends' attention pointing at the person and then set off, running over to them.

James was startled to see that the person was almost identical to him except for a weird scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. He looked to be about his age and was really badly beat up. James bent over him and his eyes opened slightly. He noticed they were a vibrant green like Evans' eyes.

"Dad?" he whispered and fainted.

Everyone was quiet.

"Dad?" James questioned confused.

"He does look a lot like you James," Sirius joked, grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes," Have you been doing something you haven't been telling us?"

"Stop being an idiot, Sirius," James replied angrily, a light blush slightly visible," Shut up and help me, will you? We have to get him to Madame Pomfrey."

Sirius took out his wand and conjured a stretcher and James levitated the boy onto it. They turned and sprinted back up to the castle. As they ran through the corriders they met up with the worst person possible.

(A/N: 3 guesses who)

James skidded to a halt quickly so as to not collide with his soon to be girlfriend (as soon as he could convince her that she is confused and doesn't actually hate him but is madly in love with him).

"Evans," he said, his hand jumping to his hair out of habit.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Potter?" she asked coolly," It's almost curfew," she tsked at them,"you better get up to the tower of I'll be forced to give you a dete- Merlin's Beard! What happened to him?"

"Did you prank him?" she demanded after a few moments of staring at the boy on the stretcher.

"Do you really think so low of me that you believe I would do this to an innocent kid?" James asked quietly, slightly hurt by her accusation.

"Well……..no I suppose not!" she replied, looking slightly flustered," but well-what happened to him, James?"

"Dunno," he said, truthfully," we found him by the lake like this. Now Evans, I don't mean to be rude, but can you move? We have to get him to the Hospital Wing."

"Of course," she said quickly, jumping out of the way. The marauders ranpast her and sprinted the remaining to the infirmary with Lily right behind them.

They burst into the ward and Sirius layed the boy down on one of the empty beds and James through open the door to Madame Pomfrey's office with a loud bang.

Madame Pomfrey woke with a start

"What can be so important Mr. Potter that you must come running into my office like you have a vampire of your tail?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

He didn't reply but just grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the boy's bed.

"Oh my," she said staring at him for a moment before getting into her 'I'm a professional, don't mess with me' mode.

"What happened? I don't believe I've ever seen him before," she inquired, bustling over to her potions cabinet and pulling out bottles.

"We have no idea," said Remus, "He was like this when we found him by the lake."

"My, my, he's in bad shape. Two broken ribs, fractured wrist, concussion, malnourishment, broken leg, a bad cut on his shin, there. And-oh my…"said Mdame Pomfrey eyes widening.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked looking at the boy with concern.

"He shows signs of recently being under the Cruciatis Curse," Madame Pomfrey quietly.

Remus, Sirius, and James gasped but Lily and Peter just looked confused.

"What?" Lily asked.

"It's one of the Unforgivables," James explained," the pain curse."

Lily and Peter both gasped, too.

"The poor dear," Madame Pomfrey tutted," I wonder how he got into such a state."

"He will be alright, right Madame Pomfrey?" Lily inquired looking at the boy with pity."

"Oh, yes. He'll recover but he'll be in here for a while. Now it is past curfew and you all should be in your dormitories. You may visit tomorrow if you wish," Madame Pomfrey said sternly, ushering them toward the door.

Yes, Madame Pomfrey," they said in unison and left the wing silently and didn't speak again until hey were sure they were out of earshot.

"Wow," Sirius burst out," I wonder who he is. He looked like all the bludgers in the world had a party and he was their guest of honor."

"Do you think he works for You-Know-Who?" Peter asked nervously.

"Don't be silly," Lily snapped at him.

"He did look a lot like you James," Said Remus thoughtfully," maybe he's a distant relative."

"I know everyone in my family, though," he said thinking hard," or at least, I thought I did."

"I dunno, Prongs," said Sirius grinning evilly," he did say 'Dad' when he saw you didn't he."

"He was about to pass out," I challenge him annoyed," he probably didn't even know who he was talking to."

"Fine, you don't have to attack me about it" Sirius said, still grinning," I was just kidding."

"He called you 'Dad', Potter?" asked Lily, smirking.

James just sulked silently and didn't answer.

"Password?" inquired the Fat Lady.

They all jumped simultaneously. None of them had realized they had arrived at the portrait hole.

"Heart of a lion," said Remus and the portrait swung forward allowing him entrance.

"Well, I'm off to bed," said Sirius yawning.

"Yes," said Lily vaguely, looking contemplative and drifting towards the girl's staircase.

"Me, too," James said and went up the staircase to the dormitory with the other three trailing behind.

They all changed and got into bed without saying anything which was rareas they were usually laughing, joking, or planning a prank.

'Well,' James thought as he got into bed,' maybe we'll get some answers tomorrow. We should go early and visit.'

(A/N: Another chapter done. I am soooooooooo good! I hope you all enjoyed it! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3:The Dream and the Visitors

Disclaimer: Why would I envy J.K. Rowling if I owned Harry Potter? Exactly, I wouldn't so I must not own it.

(A/N: Hola readers and hopefully reviewers here is the next chapter. I told you I would update quickly. Now down to business lets read and then review shall we. PLEASE. Gives puppy dog eyes.) _italics_ are a dream

Chapter 3: The Dream and The Visitors

Harry tossed and turned on the hospital bed, lost in nightmares, until……

_"Wormtail," Voldemort's high,cruel voice asked silkily," What news?"_

_"M-m-my lord," Wormtail stuttered, bowing, "I was rethinking the current events and something came to mind. In my 6th year a boy, that looked a lot like James, came to Hogwarts."_

_"So?" Voldemort questioned impatiently._

_"Don't you see, my lord? I believe that this is Harry Potter and that is where he has gone," said Wormtail in a rush._

_There was silence._

_"Very good, Wormtail. That was and ingenious thought I would not have believed you capable of. There he is vulnerable without Dumbledore having performed all those damned protection spells yet. We could use this to our advantage. Yes, very good, Wormtail," said Voldemort gleefully._

Harry woke with a start.

He groped for his glasses while rubbing his scar and located them on the bedside table.

'Wait, bedside table?' Harry thought confused. He quickly put his glasses on and looked around taking in his surroundings.

He found that he was in a bed in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts.

'I'm in here way too much. But, hey, I'm not complaining. This bed is a lot more comfortable than that dungeon,' Harry thought and pushed himself up in bed groaning.

'Wait,' Harry thought, looking around again,' something's off.'

He noticed that a few of the bed were in different positions than they usually were and that the tables were different. He shrugged it off, putting his head in his hands and tried to remember the dream he had just had.

There had been Wormtail and Voldemort. They had said something about him being vulnerable. Everything else was just a blur.

Suddenly, he heard a door creak open.

"Ah, you're awake, said Madame Pomfrey, walking over to him," So, what is your name?"

"My name?" he repeated skeptically.

At that moment the headmaster entered the ward.

"May I please speak with him, Poppy?" he asked her politely.

"Of course," she said rising from her seat and going into her office.

Dumbledore drew the curtains closed and put a silencing charm on them so they couldn't be overheard.

"Ah, now who are you?" he inquired.

"Are you serious, Professor?" Harry asked looking at him confused," Did Voldemort hit you with a memory charm or something?"

"Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, you know the one who I defeated and that came back two years ago and the one you kidnapped me before you came?" Harry asked, thoroughly dumbfounded at the headmaster's behavior.

"I see. May I ask you what year it is?" he asked looking at him shrewdly.

"Its 2005, sir," Harry replied, totally lost now.

"Actually, now it is 1980," Dumbledore explained.

"What!" Harry exclaimed.

"Now, please tell me your name," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Harry Potter," said Harry, still in shock.

"I see, I assume you are James' son," said Dumbledore observing him," The resemblance in uncanny

"Yes, sir," said Harry distractedly.

"Perhaps you should tell me what happened," Dumbledore suggested.

"Um," said Harry, recalling Hermione's warning in their third year when they last time traveled.

"I assure you anything you tell me will not change the future," Dumbledore reasurred him, blue eyes twinkling.

"Uh," said Harry hesitantly, when suddenly he felt the tell-tale signs of the trained Legilimens probing at his mind. He quickly built up walls around his mind so as not to allow him entrance to anything he didn't think he should know.

"Don't bother," he said aloud," I am trained in Occlumency."

"Are you really now?" Dumbledore asked, surprised that he had felt him and intrigued at the amount of power the boy seemed to contain.

"Yes, sir," said Harry, "Now where to begin?"

"Um, okay. Yesterday, in my time, I had a run in with Voldemort and you had just come and were dueling him when there was and explosion and then I woke up in the Hospital Wing," Harry explained.

"You had a 'run-in' and he didn't kill you?" asked Dumbledore confused.

"Well, sir, the reason for that is a long story and one I'm not sure you should know about just yet.

"Yes, yes of course," Dumbledore agreed.

"Sir, do you know of any way to get me back?" Harry asked pleadingly.

"Well, I'll have to try and get hold of a time turner but it could take months to get registered for one. For now, I believe it would be best if you continued your schooling in this time period," said Dumbledore after a moment's thought.

"Yes, sir," said Harry.

"Now, I believe I should leave you to rest before Madame Pomfrey wrings my neck," said Dumbledore standing up.

"Sir? What are you going to tell people?" Harry asked.

"That you are an exchange student whose school was attacked by Death Eaters on your way portkeying here leaving you the only survivor," Dumbledore replied promptly.

"Alright, sir," said Harry.

"And Harry you are now Harry Jameson, I believe that it too true. I also trust you not to tell anyone their futures. Your eyes tell me you have been through much and have seen things no one your age should have to see. You have lost people close to you, that much is clear, and I know that seeing them again will be difficult but try your hardest to restrain yourself, is that clear?" said Dumbledore seriously, locking Harry's eyes with his own.

"I understand," said Harry.

"Good. Now I must take my leave of you," he said opening the curtains and removing the spell.

"What are they talking about that could take so long?" asked Sirius impatiently as they waited on one of the unoccupied beds waiting for Dumbledore to leave so they could visit.

"I don't know. Just be glad it's a Saturday and we aren't missing class," Remus replied.

"Moony, only you would think of class at a time like this," James said exasperatedly.

"A time like what?" asked Peter confused.

(A/N: DIE PETER DIE! ARGGGGG!

gets violent natives together to hunt for Peter)

"A time where we find a kid almost dead that happens to look just like me!" he practically yelled.

"Alright, Prongs. Calm down. We heard you loud and clear, said Remus, rubbind his ears that were extra sensitive to noise as the full moon was up in a week.

"Sorry, Moony," James said sheepishly, looking at him apologetically.

"That's quite alright Prongs," said Remus smiling at him.

At that moment the curtains around the boy's bed opened and Dumbledore stepped out.

"Ah, boys," said Dumbledore happily," I'd like you to meet our new exchange student, Harry Jameson. Harry these are the boys who brought you in last night."

"Thank you," said Harry smiling at them.

James thought for a moment he saw a glint of sadness in the boy's eyes as he surveyed them but the next moment it was gone and he was sure he had imagined it.

"Don't mention it," he said sitting down in the chair Dumbledore had just vacated, "Hi, I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you," said Harry.

"Harry is the only survivor from his previous school which was attacked by Death Eaters on his way portkeying here," explained Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry," said Remus quietly.

"It's ok," said Harry, looking sad.

"You boys should go down to lunch," said Dumbledore as he exited the ward.

The Marauders followed him.

"Poor kid," James said as they sat down to lunch.

"Yeah, losing all his friends and everyone he knows like that…" said Sirius trailing off.

"We'll visit again later," said Remus and they all agreed.

(A/N: Whoa that was the longest chapter yet but not as long as some others I've read. I hope you enjoyed it! REVIEW PLEASE!)


	4. Chapter 4: The Sorting

Disclaimer: Roses are red

Violets are blue

I don't own Harry Potter

Please Ms. Rowling don't sue

(A/N: SORRY SORRY SORRY! You see I wasn't positive where I wanted to go with it so I was trying to get my thoughts organized. But I think I've got it together now and I'll try to update more often. PLEASE for give me! Well I hope you will continue to review and Enjoy the chapter!)

Chapter 4: The Recovery and The Sorting

Harry was forced to stay in the Hospital Wing by Madame Pomfrey for three weeks. Apparently, he was way to skinny (He didn't eat much after Sirius died and the rations the Death Eaters gave him were far from a banquet) and his injuries took a while to heal.

'Even so,' Harry thought on the way down to the Great Hall for dinner, his first time out of the hospital wing in his time in 1980,' his leg still wasn't completely healed because the bone healing spells weren't as advanced in this time period and he still was limping very slightly.'

(A/N: I know that my time period is off. It was pointed out by a reviewer, thanks lightdragon1987! But for this fanfic this is when it is set so deal. I'm better with the other facts than some of these other authors. No offense or anything)

He paused outside the doors. This is it. He was going to go in there and he wasn't Harry Potter anymore. He was Harry Jameson. Boy, it felt great! It felt like he was getting a clean slate. That he could be a nobody if he wanted to instead of being known to everyone for something he could barely remember. He could meet his parents and see Sirius again. He could see Professor Lupin as he was before he lost everything and had to live with the knowledge that one of his best friends killed Lily and James and the other Marauder, although in truth it wasn't really that way.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Everyone in the hall quieted. He looked around nervously for a moment before turning to Dumbledore who stood.

"Everyone, we have a new exchange student, Harry Jameson, a 7th year who previously attended a small private school here in Britain which was attacked by Death Eaters on his way portkeying here. He was the only survivor so please don't go asking him too much about it. Now we are going to sort him. Harry, come here please," Dumbledore announced.

Harry walked quickly up the isles to the head table trying to ignore the whispers around him in which the words "This boy, Harry" and "James Potter" were audible.

Harry sat on the waiting stool and Dumbledore lowered the hat onto his head. The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second, for the third time in his life, he was looking at the black inside of the hat.

"Ah another Potter and from the future I see. You have been through much haven't you? Oh, yes. It's all here in your head. As I have said before…….or will say, you would have done well in Slytherin. Your mind has greatly improved since when I have last seen you…..or will. New powers I see? Yes. But your courage has outshone anything else in what you have done……..or will do. I hate time traveling! It is so confusing when trying to choose between past or future tenses. Anyway, you definitely belong in GRYFFINFOR!"

Harry removed the hat, a little shaken by the fact that it knew about his powers, but he dismissed it and went quickly to an empty seat at the end of the table not looking at anyone else.

"Tuck in," said Dumbledore and sat down again and engaging Professor McGonagall in conversation.

Harry, to nervous to eat anything, sat there staring at his plate.

"Hi," said a voice from behind him.

Harry started and turned around to see a girl with dark red hair and sparkling green eyes….Harry's eyes. It was Harry's mother.

"My name is Lily Evans and I'm one of the Gryffindor prefects. If you need any help with anything you can ask me," she said extending her hand.

"Thanks," he said shaking it.

She turned and went back to sit with her friends.

Harry turned around to face his empty plate again smiling.

'I just met my mum,' he thought happily.

"Hey Harry, you don't have to sit way down here. You can sit with us if you want," someone said in his ear.

Harry started for the second time in a three minute period. He turned and saw Remus Lupin.

"Um okay," said Harry and went to sit with the Marauders.

"So, how are you feeling?" Remus inquired as they took their seats.

"Okay. I've been through worse," Harry replied shrugging.

"Well, you were in pretty bad shape when you got here, so how much worse are we talking?" Sirius asked.

"I dunno. Basilisk poisoning?" said Harry offhandedly.

James spit out his pumpkin juice, "You were bitten by a basilisk!"

"Yeah, a phoenix saved me. Look it's not a big deal. Anyway, what classes do you take?" Harry asked, looking uncomfortable.

The four boys looked at him incredulously.

"Not a big deal?" Sirius muttered disbelievingly.

Noticing how much Harry seemed to dislike the attention Remus said, "We take Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology."

"Really? Me, too," said Harry, looking surprised.

"Well, I'm tired. I'm going up to the dormitory," said Sirius yawning.

"C'mon Harry, I'll show you the way to Gryffindor Tower," said Remus, standing up.

Harry rose from his seat and followed him from the hall.

He had a hard time pretending he'd never seen Hogwarts before and not taking the lead up to the tower. It was all he could do not to point out to Remus all the secret passages they were passing that would help them get there faster. However, as he could not be sure they knew of these already and he could not appear to know the castle better than them he remained silent.

"Loopy Lupin, Loopy Lupin," Peeves cackled swooping low over their heads.

"That's the school poltergeist, Peeves," Remus explained to Harry.

"Stay out of it, Peeves," said Harry, taking out his wand and hitting him with a tickling charm.

Peeves began laughing uncontrollably and, after throwing Harry a murderous look, zoomed off.

"H-how did you do that? I thought no spells worked on poltergeists," said Remus, looking shocked and staring at him.

(A/N: Has anyone else ever wondered why people didn't just curse Peeves to make him go away? Anyway, this is my explanation for it)

"Um, there was a poltergeist at my old school and at the end of last year I figured out that only tickling charms worked on them," Harry explained, looking uncomfortable again.

"Oh, okay," said Remus, looking unsure.

"Here we are. The password is Heart of a Lion," Remus said as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward to allow them entrance.

"Thanks, Prof- I mean Remus," Harry said, horrified at his slip-up.

Remus seemed not to notice and led him up to the dormitory.

"That must be your bed," said Remus, pointing to the bed on the far side of the dormitory, which Harry was happy to see was farthest from Peter's.

"Thanks again, Remus," said Harry gratefully.

""Don't mention it," Remus replied, smiling.

They changed in silence and got into bed. Harry quickly put a silencing charm on his curtains. He didn't want the Marauders to hear him if he had his usual nightmares.

(A/N: Well here is the next chapter and I hoped you liked it. I'll be sure to update sooner next time. Sry!)


	5. Chapter 5: The Patronus

Disclaimer: WAAAAAAAAAAA! I WANT TO OWN IT! BUT I DON'T! J.K. DOES! Lucky woman!

(A/N: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! NEXT CHAPTER! Come on! Celebrate with me! Yay! Okay moving on to the actual chaper)

Chapter 5: The Patronus

The next morning Harry woke early after a restless night sleep to find his own trunk from his time at the end of his bed.

He went over and opened it intrigued. Inside, on top of his things, he found a note in Dumbledore's looping handwriting.

Dear Harry,

After you disappeared, a young boy by the name of Harry Jameson coming to Hogwarts in Lily and James' 6th year came to my mind. So, I decided to send along your things through the time stream. I do hope they got there alright. Good luck in the past and I'll see you as soon as you get a time turner.

Sincerely,

Professor A. Dumbledore

Harry smiled as he read the letter and then went through his things to check if everything was there which it was.

He got into his robes and left for breakfast. He sat alone at the Gryffindor table, his stomach not up to food anymore. At least, not after Sirius died.

'Don't think about that,' he mentally scolded himself, 'he's here and he's alive.'

But that thought only made him feel worse. Sirius was alive, yes, but he didn't know Harry and Harry was afraid that if he did get to know him it would be that much harder to leave again. While he sat mulling this over the Marauders joined him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Merlin, Harry. And I thought Moony got up early," said James, yawning as they sat down.

"FOOD!" Sirius yelled and he began to shovel food onto his plate.

"Can he really eat that much?" Harry asked Remus in an undertone, staring at the mountain of food that obscured Sirius from view.

"Are you kidding? That's considered a light breakfast by his standards," Remus replied, as he watched Sirius shove half his plate's contents down his throat in one bite.

"Sweet Merlin," muttered Harry, staring at Sirius as he washed down the food with almost ¾ of a jug of pumpkin juice.

Remus looked at Harry for a moment before he burst out laughing at the incredulous look on his face. Then he looked down at his watch.

"We better get to class," said Remus, standing up.

"But Remmy," Sirius whined, "I'm still hungry."

"Then you should have gotten up earlier," said Remus matter-of-factly, "We have to go now or we're going to be late."

"What do we have first?" Peter asked squeakily.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Remus replied as he turned and began walking towards the doors.

Harry hurried to catch up with him while the other three boy lollygagged walking as slowly as possible from the hall.

"Who's the teacher?" Harry inquired, realizing for the first time that he didn't know.

"Professor Eihwaz," said Remus promptly.

(A/N: Hermione said that meant defense in her Ancient Runes OWL exam and that she had mixed it up with ehwaz which meant partnership)

"Oh really," said Harry, sounding interested, "Is he any good?"

"Pretty good," Remus replied, shrugging, "better than the nutter we had before him."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, he always went on about how spiders are the most evil things on the face of the earth and how one day they would rule the world," Remus said, smiling amusedly.

"Well, was he talking about acromantulas?" Harry asked.

"Acro-whats?" Remus asked confused.

(A/N: The witty all-knowing Remus confused? What is the world coming to? Catch me, I feel faint.)

"Acromantulas," Harry repeated, "They're like giant spiders with huge pincers."

Suddenly he winced.

"Man, those things hurt," he said, "They aren't really nice. They can talk, too. But they're really tall and you don't want to be dropped by one," he explained wincing again.

Remus stared at him.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You've met one?" Remus asked awed.

"Um, yeah," Harry replied still confused at why this was a big deal.

"Wow," said Remus.

"What 'wow'?" Harry asked bewildered.

"You've faced off against a basilisk and an acromantula," Remus said, in the same awed voice.

"So?" Harry asked.

"So?" Remus repeated incredulously, "Do you not realize how cool that is?"

"It's not a big deal," Harry said looking uncomfortable.

"Jameson, you're hopeless if you think something like that isn't a big deal," Remus said.

"Well it isn't," Harry said sounding annoyed.

"Yes it is," Remus countered.

"No it isn't," Harry insisted.

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is"

"No it isn't."

They continued to bicker until they reached the classroom where they stopped and sat down, taking out their things.

The Marauders joined them 5 minutes later and they talked quietly until the professor walked into the room.

"Today, class," Professor Eihwaz said in a wheezy voice, "We will be learning about dementors. Can anyone tell me what these creatures are?"

Harry raised his hand and found that only he, Remus, and Lily knew.

"Ah, Mr….," he paused looking down at his attendance sheet, "Jameson."

"They are creatures that wear cloaks and suck all the happiness out of the air. Also, if they have the opportunity, they will kiss you," Harry answered.

"Good, good," said Professor Eihwaz, "Not many know about the kiss. Who know what it is?"

"When nobody else raised their hands he said, "Mr. Jameson, would you care to explain it?"

Harry nodded and said, "The Dementor's kiss is when a dementor lowers its hood and clamps its mouth over another person's (which it the only feature on their face) and sucks out their soul. The person is then still alive but they have no personality, no anything. They are like an empty shell with no life whatsoever. They guard Azkaban."

Silence greeted Harry's speech.

"How do you know that is their only feature?" the Professor asked curiously, "How can you know something like that when the only time they lower their hood is to kiss you?"

All eyes turned to him.

Harry hesitated. "Um, because I've had own try to kiss me before," he said slowly, "about a hundred at once," he added as an afterthought.

"What?" Professor Eihwaz inquired, stunned.

"Um, well you see," Harry stuttered, mad at himself for putting himself in this position, "At-at my old school they had dementors guard the grounds at one point and they seemed to be magnetically attracted to me and a few tried to kiss me but I used a patronus and got away."

"You can do a patronus?" asked the teacher.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said.

"A corporeal patronus?" the teacher asked trying to clarify.

"Yeah, since I was thirteen," Harry replied.

Silence then, "Could you show us?"

"Um…," Harry said before he thought of something.

'Shoot, my patronus is my father's animagus form and they'll be sure to recognize it. Oh what have I got myself into?' he thought to himself frantically, 'Oh, well I guess I can't get out of it now.'

He stood slowly and went to the front of the class.

He thought about how he was here with his parents and Sirius all of them alive and all of them happy.

"Expecto patronum," he muttered swishing his wand. And although he knew quite well he could perform the spell without a wand he decided to keep that a secret.

A silver stag burst forth and galloped around the room before dissolving into silver mist.

Everyone stared at him before someone started clapping and others joined in. Harry turned to the Maruaders and saw all four of them looking shocked.

Harry sighed inwardly. 'I just hope they take it okay,' he thought gloomily.

He returned to his seat and the professor seemed to regain his voice.

"Ve-very good Mr. Jameson," he wheezed, "That spell is not in the curriculum as it is near impossible for anyone to perform. However, when done correctly it creates a corporeal patronus like the one you just saw which takes the form of a sort of guardian, someone you would trust your life with."

Harry sat there, uncomfortably aware of everyone's gaze on him again.

'Why is it that even in the past I'm the center of attention? I just can't escape it,' he thought wryly, 'Oh, the irony of it all.'

(A/N: Hope you liked it. I think this was considered a good and recent update hmmmmmm? Please continue to read and review! Ta ta for now!)


	6. Chapter 6:The Marauders

Disclaimer: Nope no change. Still don't own it. Pity.

(A/N: It has been WAAAAAYYYYY TOOOOO LOOONNNGGG since I last updated and I am really sorry. You see, there were concerts I was in, then the holidays, then I went to NJ, then I got sick, then I had make-up work, then I had a 7 performances of a play, then I had two projects due, then an essay, and now I'm sick again. As you can see I've been a bit busy but I'll try to be better. Well enough about my boring life with its woes and worries. On to the chapter)

Chapter 6: The Marauders

Remus woke early the next morning to the sound of someone moving around.

'Who's up this early?' Remus thought.

He sat up in bed and peeked through the curtains to see Harry open a trunk, that had not been there the night before, and take out a note. He watched as Harry's face lit up as he read it and observed him silently as he rummaged through his things.

Harry extracted some robes and went into the bathroom to change. Remus laid back down, wondering what was in that note and had almost resolved to read it himself before deciding it wasn't his business and he'll just stay out of it. It probably wasn't anything interesting anyway. Most likely, it was a note from his parents or something.

He waited until he heard the door close before getting out of bed and preparing for the school day, as well as steeling himself for the near impossible task of getting the Marauders out of bed.

A few rounds of hexes, buckets of water, and stealing of blankets, all four of the boys were up and about. They headed down to the Great Hall and entered to see Harry sitting by himself and appearing to be deep in thought. James yawned and said, "Merlin, Harry. And I thought Moony got up early."

Harry looked startled for a moment before smiling at him nervously.

Remus took a seat next to Harry and began to eat while Sirius yelled, "FOOD!" and piled food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. Remus looked up when Harry asked whether he could really eat that much and replied as though it was an everyday occurrence, "Are you kidding? That's considered a light breakfast by his standards," before laughing at the face Harry pulled.

Glancing down at his watch he announced, "We better get to class."

Remus immediately was received by the whines of Sirius who was still hungry but he simply dismissed them with a, "Then you should have gotten up earlier. We have to go now or we're going to be late."

Right before he left the hall he told Peter that they had Defense first.

When he next looked back he saw Harry was walking just behind him and the others, walking as slowly as possible, far behind.

He turned to Harry and replied promptly when he asked who the teacher was that it was Professor Eihwaz.

"Oh really," said Harry, sounding interested, "Is he any good?"

"Pretty good," Remus replied, shrugging, "better than the nutter we had before him."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, he always went on about how spiders are the most evil things on the face of the earth and how one day they would rule the world," Remus said, smiling amusedly.

"Well, was he talking about acromantulas?" Harry asked.

"Acro-whats?" Remus asked confused. He had never heard of those before and Defense Against the Dark Arts was his best subject.

"Acromantulas," Harry repeated, "They're like giant spiders with huge pincers."

Suddenly he winced.

"Man, those things hurt," he said, "They aren't really nice. They can talk, too. But they're really tall and you don't want to be dropped by one," he explained wincing again.

Remus stared at him.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You've met one?" Remus asked awed. What was with this kid? Basilisks, phoenixes, acromantulas? What next?

"Um, yeah," Harry replied still confused at why this was a big deal.

"Wow," said Remus.

"What 'wow'?" Harry asked bewildered.

"You've faced off against a basilisk and an acromantula," Remus said, in the same awed voice.

"So?" Harry asked.

"So?" Remus repeated incredulously, "Do you not realize how cool that is?"

"It's not a big deal," Harry said looking uncomfortable.

"Jameson, you're hopeless if you think something like that isn't a big deal," Remus said. Remus, with his werewolf senses, was usually pretty good at reading people's personalities and emotions, but Harry was….. different. Sometimes all the things he said were so incediable it almost made him think he might be making them up but then again he didn't seem to like the attention. Wouldn't someone who made it up be enjoying the limelight?

"Well it isn't," Harry said sounding annoyed.

"Yes it is," Remus countered.

"No it isn't," Harry insisted.

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is"

"No it isn't."

They continued to bicker until they reached the classroom where they stopped and sat down, taking out their things.

The Marauders joined them 5 minutes later and they talked quietly until the professor walked into the room.

"Today, class," Professor Eihwaz said in a wheezy voice, "We will be learning about dementors. Can anyone tell me what these creatures are?"

Remus raised his hand automatically and saw Lily do the same as usual.

"Ah, Mr….," he paused looking down at his attendance sheet, "Jameson."

Remus glanced over at Harry surprised. Harry knew about dementors. That was interesting as they weren't in many books and only people who were serious in Defense Against the Dark Arts usually bothered to learn about them.

"They are creatures that wear cloaks and suck all the happiness out of the air. Also, if they have the opportunity, they will kiss you," Harry answered.

'They kiss you?' Remus thought confused. He had never come across anything saying that the dementors kiss you.

"Good, good," said Professor Eihwaz, "Not many know about the kiss. Who know what it is?"

When nobody else raised their hands he said, "Mr. Jameson, would you care to explain it?"

Harry nodded and said, "The Dementor's kiss is when a dementor lowers its hood and clamps its mouth over another person's (which it the only feature on their face) and sucks out their soul. The person is then still alive but they have no personality, no anything. They are like an empty shell with no life whatsoever. They guard Azkaban."

'They suck out your soul,' Harry's word echoed in his head and he shuddered at the thought.

"How do you know that is their only feature?" the Professor asked curiously, "How can you know something like that when the only time they lower their hood is to kiss you?"

Remus stared at him along with the rest of the class at the teacher's words. How did Harry know something like that? He had never come across any physical description of the dementor other than the fact that they wore black hooded cloaks.

Harry hesitated. "Um, because I've had one try to kiss me before," he said slowly, "about a hundred at once," he added as an afterthought.

"What?" Professor Eihwaz inquired, stunned. Remus felt his mouth fall open. He what?

"Um, well you see," Harry stuttered, looking more uncomfortable than ever, "At-at my old school they had dementors guard the grounds at one point and they seemed to be magnetically attracted to me and a few tried to kiss me but I used a patronus and got away."

'A patronus?' Remus thought incredulously.

"You can do a patronus?" asked the teacher.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said.

'There he goes again with the 'Its not a big deal tone'', thought Remus wryly.

"A corporeal patronus?" the teacher asked trying to clarify.

"Yeah, since I was thirteen," Harry replied.

Silence then, "Could you show us?"

"Um…," Harry said.

Remus watched as Harry hesitated. Why should he not want to? Is he lying?

Harry finally stood slowly and went to the front of the class.

He concentrated hard and muttered, "Expecto Patronum."

A silver stag burst forth and galloped around the room before dissolving into silver mist.

Remus stared, completely dumbfounded. Prongs, James' animagus form, had just come out of Harry's wand. Patronuses are in the shape of a person's guardian. They looked alike, yeah, but that couldn't be reason enough for James to be Harry's guardian…….right?

He returned to his seat and the professor seemed to regain his voice.

"Ve-very good Mr. Jameson," he wheezed, "That spell is not in the curriculum as it is near impossible for anyone to perform. However, when done correctly it creates a corporeal patronus like the one you just saw which takes the form of a sort of guardian, someone you would trust your life with."

Glancing at Harry again, he saw he looked uncomfortable under the stares of his classmates again. 'Well, jeez, what did he expect?' Remus thought sarcastically, 'Did he think he could give a little show like that and just be ignored?'

Harry averted his eyes and looked anywhere but at the Marauders until Eihwaz dismissed them and he bolted out of the classroom. Remus turned to the others to see that their faces mirrored his own shocked and confused expression.

"Um, interesting first class, eh?" asked Peter squeakily. The other three stared at him and he shut up quickly.

(A/N: Well that's it for now. I know you guys are probably mad at me seeing as I didn't actually add anything new but this chapter will be important later on. Next chapter, the marauders start getting suspicious. Juicy!)


	7. Chapter 7: AN Sorry! preview

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm not clever enough to come up with anything like it.

(A/N: I am a horible person! I said I had it all worked out; I said I would update frequently from now on, and I didn't. I turned into the very person I did not want to be: the author that promises to update soon and half a year later they still haven't posted anything. I can only say in my defense that I have been thinking about it and the thing is I know where I want the story to go, I just don't know how I'm going toget there. I wouldn't be surprised if you all hadstopped reading my story.

In a vain attempt to gain your forgiveness I have prepared a preview of where the story is going to go. Here it is!)

* * *

"Reducto!" James yelled and Harry got blasted into the wall. At that moment the door burst open and Remus came flying in. 

"James, stop," he gasped while attempting to catch his breath.

"Why should I?"said James venomously, "I'm not the one who's Voldemort's right hand man."

"Please, stop," Remus pleaded.

"Give me one good reason,"said James and Remus looked around helplessly.

"Harry, just tell him,"he said finally.

"No, Remus. Stay out of this,"said Harry clutching his abdomen in pain.

"Tell me what?" James demanded looking between the two of them, "Tell me what?"

No one said anything.

"I said TALK," said James then without warning, "Crucio!" ...

* * *

"Harry, what's wrong?"Remus inquired worridly. 

Harry didn't reply for a moment as he felt a feeling of dread growing in the pit of his stomach.

"He's coming," Harry whispered looking scared.

"What are you talking about?"

"Voldemort. He knows I'm here. He's going to try and attack Hogwarts!" ...

* * *

They finally reached the end of the passageway and Harry went up first. He ascended the staircase and opened the trapdoor to reveal a, thankfully, deserted room. The sound of screams became louder, more frequent, and more plentiful. 

Harry winced as the pain in his scar increased and moved out of the way so Remus could climb up too. He squared his shoulders and clasped his wand tightly in his hand.

There was no going back now. ...

* * *

Once all the teachers were assembled he said gravely, "I'm afraid I have some very unpleasant news. Hogsmeade is being attacked by Death Eaters."

* * *

(A/N: Well, there's your preview. A new chapter will be up soon I promise! And I mean it this time! ) 


	8. Chapter 8: Suspicions

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my sanity and sometimes I lose that too.

(A/N: I am horrible. At the beginning I promised all of you that I wouldn't do what other authors had done: promise to update soon and then leave it sitting there for years. And yet here I am leaving it sitting for months on end. I am soooo sorry. Frankly, I just have been extremely uninspired when it came to this story and my other time travel one, "Disposing of Harry Potter". I didn't exactly have a completely thought out plot when I started them and now I'm completely lost. So, from now on I'll try to write a few chapters at a time and post them periodically so you won't be left sitting at home wondering about a cliffhanger or something. Anyway, here's the chapter and again I'm sorry and I'll try to be better. If any of you have any ideas about where the plot should go please e-mail me or something. I would appreciate your feedback!)

Chapter 8: Suspicions

"Ok, who else thought that patronus looked a little too familiar for comfort?" asked James, dryly, as they left the classroom to go to potions.

"It-it was you," stuttered Sirius, looking utterly dumbstruck, "How could it be you?"

"Listen," said Remus, "Let's try to look at this logically. We have known Harry for about three weeks and while, granted James and Harry have gotten along, there is no way that he knows you well enough to put his life in your hands, no offence."

"None taken."

"And he also didn't look surprised by the form so he must have had a stag patronus for a while if not from the beginning. Therefore, it is likely that it is just coincidence that it looks a lot like James' animagus form," Remus finished.

"Fine, but isn't it also a little suspicious that he can produce one at all? And what about all those tales he was telling us? All of them were so unbelievable. Professor Eiwhaz was looking at Harry like he was turning into one of Hagrid's pets right before his eyes when he said he could do a patronus and he also said it was near impossible to perform. And the whole time Jameson was looking around like he couldn't figure out what the big deal was and telling all of us that he could produce a corporeal patronus since he was thirteen which he used against hundred dementors at once, while most adult wizards can only produce mist against one. Granted he did show us he can make one, but still."

"What's your point James?" asked Remus impatiently.

"What if he's lying?" James inquired, "What if he's lying about everything or at least exaggerating?"

"But why would he do that? What would be in it for him?" asked Sirius skeptically.

"Popularity, fame, followers, who knows?" said James throwing his arms up, "All I do know it that there is something off about him and I want to find out what."

"So…..what? Are you going to spy on him?" asked Peter.

"Of course not, Peter," Remus interrupted just as James was about to reply, giving the messy-haired boy a hard look, "James wouldn't be as stupid as to invade the privacy of the new kid by spying on him, would he?"

"No," James agreed reluctantly, "I wouldn't."

"That's right," said Remus, "No, James is going to do the right thing and talk to Harry first."

James grunted in agreement and the quartet walked in silence until they reached the classroom.

_**tpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattctpattc**_

Harry left the classroom as quickly as possible, desperate to get away from the oppressive stares of his piers.

After he was sure that he had put a sufficient distance between him and the rest of his classmates he ducked into a nearby classroom to catch his breath. As soon as he got his breathing under control he groaned and put his hands. This was just great. It was only his first day and he had already endangered his secret. He wouldn't survive until Dumbledore got a time turner if he did stuff like this everyday. He couldn't allow himself to relax around Remus and Sirius like he used too. This Remus and Sirius were different from the ones he had known. This Sirius had not lost his best friends to Voldemort because of the rat's betrayal and spent thirteen years in Azkaban with only Dementors for company. This Remus had not lived for thirteen years alone, every month going through a living nightmare.

However, Harry had lived through fifteen years of torture with the Dursleys, five years of his life being in constant peril and the pain of having two people die because of his stupidity, including the only father figure he had ever known.

Harry leaned against the desk behind him, suddenly feeling weak-kneed.

These people had not suffered any of it. They had had the chance to be kids, to have a childhood. They were immature, reckless, naïve, untouched by pain, darkness, death and loss. Untouched by war. They should enjoy it while they could because Harry knew…..it wasn't pretty.

They were different. There was no other way to put it and he would have to understand that. In his time, everyone had grown so used to him being extraordinary that it just didn't surprise them anymore. Here it was different and he had to adjust accordingly. He didn't want to be well known here. He wanted to be normal. And, if that was to be accomplished, he couldn't go around spouting out stories about his adventures and conjuring patronuses.

With a new resolve, Harry straightened up and left the classroom heading down to his next class. From now on things would be different. Soon things were going to change.

Unfortunately, he was right. Things were going to change, only not in the way he had intended.

(A/N: Remember if you have any ideas, let me know. Hope you enjoyed it! Review!)


	9. Chapter 9: Truth and Lies

Disclaimer: Puh-lease, like little old me could own Harry Potter. If you're naive enough to believe that you should get your head checked.

(A/N: Here's the next chapter. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and suggestions. I will definitely take them all under consideration. If you haven't made any suggestions yet or have some new ideas, please continue to send them to me. It would be greatly appreciated.

Also I would like to send a special shout out to the people who have reviewed more than once on my story even with my long absence:

Tied in 3rd place- **Anave Lipad** and **poke-me-im-strange** with 2 reviews. Yeah!

Tied in 2nd place- **MadnessLover ** and **Squint** with 3 reviews. Woo-hoo!

And tied in 1st place with a grand total of 4 reviews- **WorldOfLilyEvans** and **ilovethestorys **. Yipee!

Also a little shout out to my little sister **Moon Dragoness12**! Check out her stories if you have time. I taught her everything I know "just kidding, sis"- runs as sister attempts to tackle her screaming "Liar Liar!" like Miracle Max's wife in The Princess Bride-. Anyway enjoy the chapter!)

Chapter 9: Truth and Lies

For the next week Harry tried to avoid the Marauders as much as possible without making it look like he was.

James in turn kept looking for a chance to get Harry on his own so he could question him about his unusual patronus. However, every time an opportunity arose Harry seemed to disappear into thin air and he was getting frustrated.

Finally, he got his chance as Harry was leaving Care of Magical Creatures. He quickly grabbed his arm so prevent him from running off again and dragged him behind a tree, far away from the others who were staying outside for their free period.

"Listen, Jameson, I have some questions and I want them answered," James said seriously his eyes holding no room for argument.

Harry said nothing, choosing instead to stare at his hands intently.

James took this as a sign of consent and continued, "Now where did you learn your patronus?"

"From a friend of my father's," he replied, continuing to watch his hands.

"And, why is it a stag?" asked James.

"That's something personal that, no offence, I don't feel comfortable sharing with you," said Harry.

"Fair enough," said James grudgingly, inwardly burning with suspicious curiosity.

"Where did you get that scar?" James inquired staring openly at the scar in question.

Harry visibly tensed at the question and didn't answer for a moment. Finally he said, "What's it to you?"

Then, he winced. That had come out a little harsher than he had intended.

James just watched him for a moment before he leant in and whispered, "Look I'd like to be able to trust you, but, as you know, in times like these you have to be cautious. Now, some of the things you've said and done are a little suspicious and I for one would like to know what's going on."

Harry was silent, looking contemplative. "I'm sorry," he sighed finally, "but I can't tell you. There are some things about me that you can't know for your own safety. This is as hard for me as it is for you because I'm your friend and I want to be able to trust you, too. However, this is the way it has to be and I apologize if that doesn't in keep with interrogation policy. Right now, I have somewhere to be, so excuse me."

James made no move to stop him as he pushed past him and didn't move at all until he was already gone. Quite suddenly, he spun around and followed Harry with his eyes as he trekked back up to the school. 'What did he mean "for your own safety"?' James thought, utterly perplexed.

Harry walked quickly to the library, paying no attention to the people around him, and tried not to think about anything.

When he arrived he went straight to a shadowy, deserted isle where he was almost certain he would not be interrupted.

He dropped his bag onto the ground next to him, and leaned against the bookcase, closing his eyes.

Harry sighed. That was close. He hated having to lie to the father but he knew it was for the best. Oh, how he wished he could tell him everything. He wanted to warn his mother and father not to choose Pettigrew, he wanted to tell Sirius not to come for him at the Department of mysteries, he wanted to stop Remus from believing Sirius was guilty for 13 years. But he couldn't. He couldn't tell them anything and he would just have to watch them make mistakes that could have been prevented, that he could have prevented. It was like watching one of the horror movies Dudley used to watch on television. You knew that they shouldn't explore the haunted house, you knew they shouldn't go through that particular door, you knew they shouldn't try to solve the mystery. However, there was no way to warn them of what was to come and you just had to watch as they got eaten by monsters or something.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that after all that been through, after all that he had done, and all that he had to do that he had to suffer like this. But life wasn't fair. Harry had learned that a long time ago, when he was only a year and a half old…..when he had lost his parents. It wasn't fair that they had gotten killed but even if it wasn't fair he couldn't change it. Even now he couldn't change it. Too many things could go wrong.

If only he hadn't opened that letter. If only Voldemort hadn't been created. If only the prophecy had never existed. If-

"Are you okay?" a soft feminine voice inquired.

Harry opened his eyes and saw a red-haired girl with a shining prefects badge on her robes. Lily Evans, his mother.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said, giving her a tired smile, "Your Lily, right?"

"Yes," said Lily walking over to him, "How're you liking Hogwarts, Harry?"

"It's really nice. I got lost a couple of time, but apart from that," Harry said.

"I was just about to do that Charms homework," Lily said, "Do you want to work on it with me? We might get it done faster."

"Sure," Harry said, straightening up and picking his bag off the floor.

"C'mon," she said and started off towards a table.

Harry followed her feeling, somehow, lighter. Maybe he couldn't change everything, but at least he could enjoy the time he had with his parents now as much as possible. Who knows? This could be fun.

(A/N:Review!)


	10. Chapter 10: The Prankfest

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. Jeez, you think you'd only have to say it once and it would stick, but nooooooooooooooooooooooooo every chapter the same thing. I don't own it. And I try to make it interesting, I really do but my god………………okay I'll shut up now.

(A/N: So far this story has been very dreary and serious for the most part. I really had meant to make it at least a little more fun. After a review from a reader by the name of brightsidetolife I was reminded of this. So, in their words this chapter is about giving Harry a break or at least as much of a break as Harry Potter can get. Hope you enjoy it and that by the end of it I've made at least a few of you laugh and that most of you aren't banging your head against a wall thinking 'what the heck is wrong with this author? I am never reading anything by them again'. REVIEW!!)

Chaper 10: The Prankfest

After the chance encounter in the library, Lily and Harry began to become a little closer. It wasn't rare to see the two in a corner of the common room surrounded by books and parchment. But, apart from schoolwork, they also were becoming closer friends.

In the meantime the Marauders were completely and utterly confused about Harry in general. One minute he's acting like he's known them for years and the next he's avoiding them like the plague. And none of them could decipher the impromptu riddle he had given James. 'For their own safety?' what could that possibly mean? But as things stood now they accepted the odd behavior, attempting to push all thoughts of the new kid out of their mind and returning to their normal routine.

The Marauders were sitting in their dorm room just relaxing. It was a Saturday and they had gotten lucky and been assigned no homework.

Remus was on his bed, deeply immersed in some complex and impossible to understand tome he had found in the library, paying no attention whatsoever to his surroundings. James was tempted for a moment to chuck something at him and see what he did, but then reminded himself that it would do no good. Being a werewolf had given Remus amazing reflexes, one of the very scarce perks of getting turned into one. But even the thought of never being caught off guard again by one of Sirius' pranks could ever persuade James to willingly go through what Remus had to every month. That was one of the reasons he had pursued attempting the animagus transformation.

Sirius and Peter were at a small table set up in the corner playing a game of gobstones, something poor Peter was losing dismally at. They had been playing for nearly an hour and Peter was drenched in the foul smelling liquid while Sirius didn't even have a drop on him. Shaking his head, James smiled. Everything was as it should be.

James himself had been lying on his bed staring at the hangings and thinking of absolutely nothing……well Lily had crossed his mind a few times but that was not at all unusual. All his friends were here, Harry was off only god knew where. 'Don't think about HIM,' James though rolling over onto his side. The truth was James had been thinking about the emerald eyed boy an awful lot lately. He was an enigma that one. He didn't know why he was so inclined to ponder about him for hours, but Harry was like a very complex puzzle he was obsessed with solving. But he wasn't going to think about him. He was going to think about……..school. No, he was going to think about……….Lily. Nah, he did too much of that already. He was going to think about…………..

"Sweet Merlin!" James exclaimed, sitting bolt upright.

Sirius jumped about a foot in the air and accidentally dropped the gobstone in his hand. Within seconds, he was soaked in the pungent smelling fluid you take the risk of getting covered in when you play.

If looks could kill, James would be dead 10 times over from the glare Sirius was giving him. However, James hardly seemed to notice.

"Sirius," James said, looking to be in a state of shock, "I've just realized something."

"What?" asked Sirius, looking thoroughly annoyed, "That you won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise?"

"No," said James, who wasn't really paying attention to what Sirius was saying, "We've been so caught up in the whole Harry thing, we haven't played any pranks since he arrived."

Now it was Sirius' turn to look shocked.

"Merlin's beard," a look over horror was spreading over Sirius' face, "I think you're right."

"NOOOOOOOO!" Sirius yelled, throwing himself on the floor dramatically, all thoughts of the gobstone goop gone, "How could we have forgotten to do pranks?! People are probably thinking we've gone soft!"

Remus looked up briefly from his reading, just long enough to roll his eyes when he spotted Sirius on the floor before he returned to the incomprehensible tome.

"I know!" James shouted hopping off the bed, "We haven't done ANTHING to Snivellus in ages! This is preposterous!

"Absurd!" Sirius joined in.

"Shocking!"

"Insane!"

"Foolish!"

"Outrageous!"

"Crazy!"

"Unthinkable!"

"Ludicrous!"

"Asinine, nonsensical, exorbitant," Remus added not even looking up from the book.

James and Sirius stopped jumping around the room and stared at him.

"Remus," said James slowly, "How is it we're rattling off every synonym that we can think of and you still manage to confuse us with your vocabulary?"

Remus just shrugged, still not looking up. James watched him a moment longer hoping for a more detailed reply but eventually he gave up.

"Well, my dear Padfoot," said James, turning to him, "Because we have gone so long without pranking we must make up for lost time."

"I agree, my dear Prongs," said Sirius, grinning, "and you know what that means……"

"PRANKFEST!" They both yelled and ran out of the room, laughing maniacally.

Remus watched them go and rolled his eyes again, but on his face a small smile was playing across his lips. While he may not approve of _everything_ James and Sirius did, he still believed they were wonderful people and would go along with almost anything if he could save their friendship.

In the meantime, James and Sirius had run down the stairs and through the common room, ignoring the alarmed looked they were receiving, through the portrait whole and into the nearest deserted classroom.

"Okay so we've got to come up with something new," said James.

"And it should be big," Sirius added, "to make up for lost pranking time."

"Right, hold on," James said, pulling out his wand and conjuring a piece of parchment, quill and ink, "Now where were we?"

For the next four hours (and new record for prank planning time in the Marauder's book) they brainstormed and researched some pranks they could alter and use, as well as some new ones. Finally, they had a plan together and it was probably one of their most complex yet.

Harry was walking toward the library when he walked by an abandoned classroom from which the sound of voices and laughter was emanating. He backtracked to the door which was slightly ajar and peeked inside. Within the confines of the room was James and Sirius and they were joking around and writing on a piece of parchment.

From the paper's aura it was conjured. Every living and nonliving thing had an aura. Ever since he was little Harry had always seen a faint outline of…….something surrounding the people and things around him. Only, recently, and through many hours of research had he figured out what it was. He was an aura reader, a special kind of seer. While most seers are known for going into a trance and reciting prophecies, looking into crystal balls, and reading tea leaves, that was not the only thing the ancient subject of divination entails. Aura readers are a very rare type of seer, so rare, in fact, their entire existence has almost been lost to time and knowledge. This type of clairvoyant can sense the very life force of the people around them, or there auras. So, when they touch someone they see a flash of either their future or fast, like a short clip cut from the movie of their life. The flashes though don't usually start happening until about 16 years of age. Before that, they received flashes only of the people they have touched at random points, often in the form of dreams. So, it turned out that his dreams weren't always from Voldemort (although some were). They were just bits of his abilities peeking through.

There were some other abilities he had found and developed over time. But they were unimportant as of now. The point was he could also sense the magical auras of things such as enchanted objects and tell what spells were placed on them by switching into something called "unfocused sight". To any observer Harry's eyes would appear to become unfocused while he was actually focusing on something far beyond what they could ever hope to.

Harry concentrated and suddenly it was like his eyes could move wherever you wish. Another benefit of being gifted with "unfocused sight" is that while your body would stay in place it was like your eyes could go anywhere, and Harry's eyes went above the paper James was scrawling on.

It read:

**PRANKFEST PLAN**

_Courtesy of Mr. Prongs and Mr. Padfoot_

_Mr. Padfoot would like to enquire as to why Mr. Prongs decided to state his name first_

_Mr. Prongs would like to reply with the utmost respect that it was because he is better than Mr. Padfoot_

_Mr. Padfoot would like to object-_

_And Mr. Prongs would like to get started on the actual list_

And from there it listed 3 pages worth of ideas and notes on every prank imaginable.

Harry returned to regular sight and smiled. He had always heard about how great his father and best friend were at pranks and how not even the pranks developed by the Weasley twins could outdo the infamous Marauders. It looked like while he was here he would be getting a piece of the action.

He wasn't sure whether to be scared or not.

(A/N: should I be mean and leave it here????????? Nah, I'm too nice for my own good)

The next day Harry went down early to breakfast, not wanting to miss the show and not being able to sleep much anyway.

As soon as he walked into the room he sensed a spell trying to activate on him and telling it would be harmless he allowed it. One of the other many hidden talents of Harry James Potter/ Harry Jameson: as long as his magic levels were up to at least 50 strength he could allow or disallow spells to affect him. This time he allowed it.

Instantly he was bedecked in a red and gold striped party hat and a puff of silver and gold glitter exploded out of nowhere covering him in sparkles.

Harry grinned and looked up to see a sign floating above the immaculately decorated hall that read:

_Courtesy of the Marauders_

_Today we are making up for our lapse of proper judgment when prioritizing this year. We are celebrating today as the anniversary of yours truly's first prank in first year, involving some very colorful pies, whip cream, and giant cherries. Enjoy your day!_

Harry laughed lightly and took a closer look at the hall. At each table every occupant was adorned with a striped party hat of their house colors……… except the Slytherins of course.

They were wearing red and gold party hats and every one of there bodies were a deep scarlet with gold polka-dots. All of them looked quite displeased with the current arrangement, but it seemed that every time the attempted some spell to return to themselves to their normal attire that the party had would grow to astronomical sizes. Some Slytherins were practically swimming in their hats already and the others were quickly catching on that it was better to leave their adornments alone, however disgruntled it made them.

Harry was just settling into a seat at the end of the table near Lily and a few of her friends and taking some toast, when a commotion at the doors caught his attention. He glanced up at them just in time to see a very irate Severus Snape walk inside the hall. Instantly, he met the same fate as the rest of the Slytherins. However, when he decided to try and hex his hat off, something happened.

Quite suddenly, Snape was raised up into the air as if someone invisible was holding his ankle. Harry glanced around momentarily and sure enough spotted James and Sirius' wands pointed at him under the table.

As Snape struggled to be released, a banner fell from the singing, the word on it written in an elegant script and a very annoying song was heard. After a moment Harry noticed that the words were glowing and finally he knew what precisely was happening. A choir of infuriatingly squeaky voices was singing and on the banner was the lyrics and it went like this:

_Every party has a Pooper _

_That's why we invited you_

_PARTY POOPER!!!!!!!_

And it was repeating over and over, growing louder and louder, and Snape was being whirled around the room.

Harry glanced up at the teachers table to see McGonagall's lips growing indescribably thin as she seemed to crackle with suppressed fury, while the other teachers seemed to be in a state of shock. Looking over at Lily, he saw her having a reaction very similar to McGonagall's, her eyes smoldering and dangerous, while all the students around them were laughing hysterically.

Finally deciding that, as Snape was going on a little rollercoaster ride around the hall by his ankle, that things had gone far enough, he waved his hand discreetly under the table and Snape fell to the ground his face red, whether from embarrassment or anger Harry didn't know.

He gave the Marauders a glare of pure loathing, before taking his seat at the Slytherin table. The Marauders, in the meantime, were looking at each other, perplexed. Neither James nor Sirius had dropped the spell, so why had it ceased working?

Harry smiled to himself, and returned to his breakfast, just stopping Lily from mauling the Marauders.

Throughout the rest of the day, pranks occurred all over the school ranging from very big to very small.

The Ravenclaws were unable to enter the library, the Hufflepuffs were like evil psychopaths and slacking off in class (hard workers ha!), the Slytherins were acting sugary sweet (disturbing really), and the Gryffindors were laughing at it all.

In essence the whole school was turned upside down and in complete chaos. And the students weren't the _only_ ones targeted. The ghosts were unable to float through the walls, and many a resounding bang was heard as they tried. And the teachers, well the teachers…………………there is really nothing to describe what happened to the teachers.

Harry was in Transfiguration later that day listening to McGonagall give a lecture on turning living things into other living things (much more difficult than other types of transfiguration because you're actually altering its already complex genetic code into an equally complex one) when instead saying a word McGonagall gave out a loud meow.

Her eyes widened as every time she tried to speak a meow erupted from her mouth. Harry watched as fear spread across her face and Harry knew she was thinking something was going wrong with her animagus transformation…….before her gaze fell on the laughing Marauders and her eyes narrowed.

She opened her mouth but instead of letting loose a very long rant about pranking a teacher and probably assigning detention, she let out an angry hiss, sounding very much like an irritated cat.

Let it suffice to say, they never really returned to the lecture.

When they got to Potions, Slughorn assigned them to make the Polyjuice Potion (something Harry found very amusing) and had settled into his chair to eat his sugared pineapple. Lily and Harry were just beginning to gather their ingredients when they were interrupted by a loud squawk at the front of the classroom.

Where Slughorn had just been sitting was now a very plump pig. Harry snorted with laughter at the memories that brought back of Dudley with that very appropriate tail. Lily gave him a disapproving glance before she waved her wand attempting to reverse the impressive transfiguration.

That was a big mistake.

Slughorn the pig immediately began flashing every color of the rainbow and suddenly was standing on his hind legs wearing a top hat, tap shoes, and holding a cane. Then he began to dance.

Harry had nothing to say about that experience.

What happened to Dumbledore, though, was by far the most amusing.

How on earth the Marauders got one past _Dumbledore_ Harry will never know, but regardless of how, they did, and with hilarious results.

They had just been sitting down to lunch when a loud bang erupted from the teachers table just as Dumbledore sat down in his chair.

Where Dumbledore had just been was a tiny leprechaun with a white beard laced with shamrocks and those unmistakable twinkling eyes which were, at the moment, looking panicked.

The Dumbledore leprechaun hopped up and a box of well known muggle cereal appeared in his arms.

"They're after me Lucky Charms!" he exclaimed in a squeaky voice before bolting out of the hall as fast as his tiny legs could carry him.

The muggleborns, half-bloods, and everyone aware of what that meant was on the floor laughing hysterically while the others looked around in confusion.

Harry just smiled to himself before starting to eat, thinking up ways he could mock Dumbledore mercilessly when he got back to his own time.

All in all, it was a _very _good day.

(A/N: oh my gosh. I am sooo sorry this took so long. I'm rubbish when it comes to writing pranks. I'm just not very good at coming up with them because I would _never_ be able to actually do them. That part of my brain his way too dusty because it just hasnt been used. It took me FOREVER to come up with this much. It was originally going to be longer with a little more angst toward the end but then i was like 'i've made them wait for so long i just couldnt be that mean' so here you go. I hope you liked it and REVIEW!!!!)


	11. Chapter 11: Silver

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. There it is, plain and simple.

Chapter 11: Silver

The forest was silent. Not a soul, nor shadow moved as the magic of the place seemed to freeze the moment in time. A light mist lay close to the ground snaking its way through the trees leaving the surrounding foliage with a light coating of dew. The drops sparkled in the moonlight as the dark grey cloud that had been eclipsing it seconds before drifted away. And it that instant where the world was illuminated in the moon's eerie sliver glow, a sudden crack shattered the suffocating silence that hung over the trees.

Behind an aged trunk a man appeared, his hands clutching the rough bark like a lifeline and his eyes wide and terrified. He peeked out from behind his hiding place, lifting a slightly pointed nose, and sniffing the air warily. Seeming to be comforted by what he found, he relaxed his grip on the poor tree slightly. However, his moment of ease did not last long as another crack cut through the night like a knife and an additional man appeared. He was much taller than the first, with long, pale fingers that gripped a slender piece of elegantly carved wood, sparkling with concealed power.

The first man scrambled away from the tree, scratching his skin on the sharp protrusions littering the trunk in his haste, as he kneeled before the taller man kissing the hem of his robes. His hood, which had previously been raised to mask his face in shadows, fell back to reveal a short, chubby man with a balding patch in his sandy blonde hair.

"Wormtail," the second man whispered, the words floating away on a chilling breeze that passed through raising the hair on the back of Wormtail's neck.

"Yes, my Lord?" Wormtail queried, glancing up into scarlet eyes, before quickly lowering his head, cursing himself for his stupidity. However, the aforementioned Lord ignored the perceived slight and continued to speak.

"How are the plans?" he questioned the rat animagus, watching carelessly as he started in surprise, nearly falling over.

"Oh fine, my Lord, just fine," he stuttered, regaining his composure and running a hand through his thinning hair not noticing as he accidentally accented the flaxen color with streaks of blood. He dared not move from his kneeling position on the damp forest floor, fearful as he was of the consequences, although his back was beginning to cramp.

"Good," the crimson eyes glinted in a menacing manner at the thought of the 'plans', "I hope, for your own health Wormtail that you do not fail in this task. The consequences shall not be pleasant, I can assure you," he added silkily, a sinister smile to match the look in his eyes forming on thin lips.

Wormtail shuddered.

"Do not worry, my Lord," he replied, trying to convince himself as much as his master of his worth, a silver hand clutching and releasing the moist fabric of his robes compulsively, "Harry Potter will be in your hands before the end of the year."

* * *

"I cannot believe they did that!" Lily raged, pacing the room at an alarming speed, "The nerve of them to disrespect all of the teachers like that. Even Professor Dumbledore! What were they thinking targeting the headmaster?! They could be expelled! I hope they are expelled." 

She paused in her ranting to dream of a life at Hogwarts without the Marauders, a smile gracing her pretty features like it was the best thought in the world.

Harry merely nodded, not really paying attention as he read a fascinating book on Werewolves (_Hairy Snout, Human Heart_), far too used to these tirades by now to be really affected by them. Although, he had to say, he had been scared out of his wits the first time the fuming redhead had burst into the common room seething about something James had done and making sure to tell Harry all about it. Now, however, these incidents were so plentiful and all of them so similar in nature ("Will you go out with me, Evans?" "No, Potter" James hexes Snape "What about now?"), that he had learned to tune them out very effectively.

It worried him slightly that Lily seemed to hate James so implicitly, but he understood that his interference would probably do more harm than good and that it was better to just observe and allow things to run its course.

"Harry? Harry, are you listening to me?" Lily's annoyed voice broke through his thoughts and he looked up at her apologetically.

"Sorry, spaced off for a second there," he said, giving her a small smile, "What was it you were saying?"

"I was asking you why you don't hang out with them anymore," she said, finally calming down from her outburst. She folded her legs beneath her and settled into an armchair, watching him with those disturbingly familiar eyes, "A few weeks ago, you seemed to like them and now you barely talk to them. What happened?"

"Oh," said Harry uncomfortably, his smile falling from his face, "I dunno. Just didn't have a lot in common, I suppose."

"Oh, alright," Lily said watching him shrewdly, her voice displaying that she knew he clearly wasn't telling her something, "Well I think your better off anyhow, without their horrible influence. Honestly, what were they thinking?! Going after the teachers?"

And she was off. Harry sighed and lowered his eyes to his book once more. This might take a while.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the realm of the Marauders, a place where creating a rule is forbidden and pranking is a must, a celebration was taking place. 

"Well, boys, I do believe this was a great success," Sirius declared genially, a grin spread across his face, clinking his butterbeer bottle with three of its fellows.

"I must agree with the mutt," James said, laughing loudly, "It was quite a scene."

"And Moony really showed his stuff," he continued, "Most believe that the shy little prefect could do no wrong, but he displayed his true Marauder colors today. That one on Dumbledore was priceless."

"Brilliant," Peter agreed, smiling, "A slow-acting potion in his Lemon Drops, triggered by sitting in that throne of his. Pure genius."

"Why thank you, Peter," Remus replied, ruffling the smaller boy's hair, "And let's not forget your prank, Wormtail. The look on McGonagall's face-"

Moony broke down laughing.

Peter smiled widely at the comment, a proud glow emanating from his face.

"Yeah, Pete, that was a good one," Sirius agreed and Peter's grin, if possible, grew even wider, "I personally enjoyed the one on Slughorn."

"Well you would," James commented, rolling his eyes, "You came up with it."

"I'm sorry, since when was there a rule about not being able to enjoy your own pranks?" Sirius replied a hurt pout on his face and he held a hand to his heart, "I'm hurt, James. What did I ever do to deserve such mockersy?"

"It's mockery, Padfoot," Remus corrected him with a sigh, but there was a small smile dancing beneath the exasperated look on his face, "Honestly, how in Merlin's name you manage to pass your classes is a mystery to me."

"Ahhh," Sirius said sagely, collapsing cross-legged on the floor and closing his eyes in the classic meditating position, "As it is to most, young one. But one must learn to accept such mysteries of the world or risk having one's head hurt very badly."

James kicked him, making Sirius' eyes snap open, "Stop being an idiot, Paddy."

"I'm not the idiot!" Sirius said defensively, rubbing the spot on his abdomen where James' foot had collided with his person, "I was merely showing you what Professor Clair would have done if she was here."

The other three groaned simultaneously.

"Why did'ja have to remind us of her Padfoot?" Peter moaned, putting his head in his hands, "Bloody woman can't keep her trap shut."

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked innocently, "Don't you like Professor Clair?"

James, Remus and Peter just gave him a look.

"What?! You don't like our darling Divination professor? What evil spirits must be at work here?" Sirius said, looking horrified and flapping his arms around wildly.

"And you said Clair can't keep her mouth shut?" Remus muttered to Peter. He snorted.

"Padfoot?" James asked, gaining the attention of Sirius who was now cawing as he ran around the room waving his arms attempting to get the 'evil spirits' away.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Wha- me? But-"

"Quiet," James repeated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But the spir-mmfph."

Remus smirked as his jaw locking curse hit Sirius head on.

"Finally!" James yelled dramatically and grabbed hold of Remus, keeping him hostage in an extraordinarily tight hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Not a problem, Prongs," Remus replied, grinning and together the two pretended to burst into joyful tears.

Peter just laughed.

The Marauders then continued their celebrations, gleefully ignoring Sirius' attempts to get their attention and remove the spell.

* * *

"May I have your attention please?" a calm voice echoed around the room, the words spoken so quietly one shouldn't have been able to hear it at all, but nevertheless the whole hall fell silent. 

"Thank you," Dumbledore said, a grandfatherly smile on his aged face, "I would like to inform you of a rather special event that will be taking place this year."

Everyone watched him expectantly, Harry among them. What did Dumbledore have planned now?

"Myself and the rest of the teachers have decided," Dumbledore said, and the entire all held a collective breath, "that this year we shall be having a Christmas Ball."

Whispers broke out throughout the hall but were silenced by one hand gesture from the Headmaster as he continued.

"This ball will take place on Christmas Eve into Christmas Day, ending at midnight. It is to be themed a Masquerade, meaning, of course, that you will be required to wear a mask. 3rd year and above may attend and you must stay for the whole break. A list of who will be staying will be coming around soon so you may sign up then. There will be one more Hogsmeade trip on the 15th of December when you will have the opportunity to do what shopping you may need to. I believe that is all. You may now go back to enjoying this marvelous dinner."

"Oh Harry," Lily said as Dumbledore sat down and the hall broke out in chatter once more, "A ball! This is going to be so much fun."

"Yeah," Harry replied a very forced smile on his face as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, "Yeah, just loads and loads, I'm sure."

Harry lay on his back in the dormitory, hours after Dumbledore 'dropped the dungbomb', and the rest of his dorm mates were already asleep. A ball. How he hated balls. Harry groaned quietly as memories of the Yule Ball catastrophe arose in his memory. Why a ball? He _hated_ balls. And it wasn't as if he could escape it by going home either. He didn't have a home here, not that if he could go back to the Dursleys he would by any means. He would rather suffer through a ball than go to that hell hole. Maybe…..maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he could just hang out with Lily and have fun, because that's what these balls were supposed to be. Like he said earlier: loads and loads of fun…..Right?

Harry sighed and turned over. Well, at least he didn't _have_ to get a date this time.

* * *

As the days drew nearer to the Hogsmeade trip, people began to pair off. 

Sirius looked as though he was having a grueling time deciding which bimbo he should give the 'honor' of going with him, but he finally decided on a beautiful blonde girl with tan skin and amazing talent to make even the prim and proper school uniforms look risqué.

James was pursuing Lily with an unbelievable amount of determination, only seeming to become more set on his goal for each time the two letter word as opposed to the three letter one escaped her lips.

Lily on the other hand, was becoming increasingly frustrated as he repeatedly refused to take NO as an answer. Harry pitied the poor stag when the usually sweet-tempered redhead finally blows her top. The student body, who found the one-sided feud a wonderful source of entertainment, now had a new pool running alongside the old one (When the hell Evans would see the light and go out with the git). The new bet was what she would do when she finally had enough of him asking her to attend the ball with him. At this point what seemed to be the favorite was her slapping him across the face and asking McGonagall to give him detentions from now to eternity on the charges of sexual harassment.

Harry laughed when he heard this absurd prediction. Lily would never drag the Head of House into something as trivial as this. The slapping across the face however…..that might be a tad more accurate with the way things are going, no matter what Lily's violence policy normally is. The aforementioned violence policy consisted of about one sentence: _Try as hard as you can to avoid murdering James Potter on sight, but if you slip…at least he won't be able to call you Lilykins anymore. _

Oh and….

Speak of the devil.

"Hey Lily Flower," James said eagerly, sliding into the seat next to her, "You know the Christmas Ball is coming up."

"Your point, Potter?" Lily growled dangerously, her eyes narrowing into emerald slits. Harry shuddered. This would not end well.

"Well I would like to give you the privilege of having me escort you," James announced with a winning smile like it was the first time he had suggested this and he was sure she would agree.

As each syllable escaped James' mouth, Harry groaned and lowered his head to the table and banging it repeatedly. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The privilege? Has he met this girl? Ever?

"Oh Jamsie, that would be just lovely," Lily said in a falsely sweet voice, the surgery smile sending chills down Harry's spine. NOT good.

"Really?" asked James, looking vaguely surprised but pleased.

Lily's blinding smile quickly morphed into a snarl that contorted her pretty face into a terrifying whirl of hateful big words and fiery red hair.

"No, not really, you insensitive, egotistical, supercilious, pompous, IDIOTIC, BULLYING TOE-RAG!!!! I WILL NOT GO WITH YOU TO THIS DANCE NOW OR EVER, SO **STOP** ASKING ME!"

As Lily continued to berate his unwaveringly cocky future father, a hand suddenly clapped itself on Harry's shoulder causing him to jump about a foot in the air and pause in his routine head-banging. He turned quickly in his seat to come face to face with Remus Lupin.

Remus smiled at him and slid into the seat on Harry's other side.

"You're going to permanently dent your forehead if you do that every time James is…..well James," he said, smiling at him pleasantly, surprising Harry with his amiable nature. After all, he had been avoiding the werewolf and his three companions like they were going to feed him Polyjuice Potion if they got close enough. However, he was rather happy with this development. He didn't want his father and his friends to hate him.

"I'll take that into account the next time," Harry replied, rewarding Remus' grin with a small smile, "So….how've you been?"

"Oh, just fine," Remus said, his congenial expression faltering slightly before it was quickly covered up, "and yourself?"

Harry scrutinized his face closely and found the tell-tale signs of a pale complexion and healing magic residue on his skin. 'That's right,' Harry thought, 'It was full moon the other night.'

"Fine," Harry answered. There was an awkward silence.

"Did you have trouble on that Charms essay?" Harry asked finally, glancing up from where he had been staring at his shoes, "I couldn't find many books on permanent flying charms in the library."

"Yeah, I did," Remus answered, sounding relieved to be on familiar ground. Classes, the best fall-back topic ever, "And that Astronomy essay, too."

"Right," Harry agreed, "But that was partly do to how boring it was. I honestly don't care where Pegasus decides to go during the winter time. I have a life, thank you very much."

Remus chuckled.

They continued conversing and a new friendship was born.

Funny how all these new platonic relationships began with discussing classes. Hermione would be proud.

* * *

Harry wandered through the halls of Hogwarts castle, taking comfort in the familiar magic surrounding him. No matter if it was a few years younger, Hogwarts was still Hogwarts and it was still his home. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, greeting the sentient side to his sanctuary. Something he had learned early the previous year was that the combination and continuous influx of magic within the architectural genius' walls had become so built up and saturated that overtime it had developed a conscious that could be accessed if you had a deep enough connection with the edifice. 

The speech of the ancient structure came more as feelings and detached phrases than actual words or conversation.

'Hello,' Harry thought, 'Long time no see.'

He felt a slight brush against the edges of his mind and a sensation of affection come through his unique link with the castle.

Harry smiled inwardly and continued his conversation with the castle. He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been standing there, chatting through his mind until something interrupted.

"Well if it isn't the ickle Potter look-alike. What's he doing all the way down here in the dark and spooky dungeons?" a cruel and mocking voice swept over Harry making his blood run cold. That voice was disturbingly familiar.

His eyes snapped open to land on…

(A/N: and CUT!!! Alright everyone pack up. Time to go home…

or not lol. A little more shall we?)

Bellatrix Lestrange or, at least, the future Bellatrix Lestrange. For the here and now, this was Bellatrix Black …and she was still using that god forsaken baby's voice. Harry sighed inwardly. Some things just don't change.

"Do I know you?" Harry asked feigning ignorance and extending his hand politely.

"Bellatrix Black," she replied, a vein of icy pride running through her snooty tone, but she made no move to shake his hand.

"Very nice to meet you," he said, his hand not moving from where it was waiting patiently in the air for it to meet a fellow, "Harry Jameson."

"Yes," she acquiesced, her words civil, but there was no mistaking the threat that hid beneath years of pureblood training, "Now what I would like to know is, what are you doing in the Slytherin domain, Gryffindor?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry said, pretending he was unaware of this knowledge, keeping his words light and hiding the incensed fire licking his insides behind blank eyes and finally moving his hand away, "I was not informed that the dungeons were not welcome to Gryffindors except for classes. I'll leave now if you want."

The future renegade was not quick enough to mask her surprise at his cordial reaction and the fact that a Gryffindor was asking her for permission to stay. In her experience, Gryffindors, including her _cousin_, did whatever they damn well pleased, and if it pissed of a Slytherin all the better.

Harry smirked inwardly after sensing this thought. Really, what a stereotyped opinion.

"Yes," she sneered, "You and your kind aren't welcome here."

"My kind?" Harry inquired politely, managing to look mildly interested.

"Yes, your kind," she scowled, "You filthy mudbloods think you can come down here and dirty up the only place that is free from all you imbeciles, but we won't hold for it-"

"I'm sorry," Harry interrupted, "What gave you the impression that I was muggleborn?"

Bellatrix stopped short in her rant, surprise glittering in her violet eyes as she studied him carefully.

"My parents were very much a witch and wizard, whateve you might say, and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making such assumptions to the contrary when you have just met me not a minute ago," Harry said, keeping a pleasant smile on his face, although inwardly he was fuming. She was just as much a disgusting Death Eater now as she ever was.

"Now if you don't mind, I have some things to attend to," he said, quickly ending the conversation before things could escalate any further, and turned on his heel walking into the shadows. In his quick exit he left behind a mildly confused Slytherin with muddled thoughts of the new Gryffindor plaguing her mind.

* * *

Consumed by his inner fury, yet managing to keep any of it from showing on his face, Harry fought not to storm down the corridor in his rage. 

So it was, distracted by his inner turmoil, Harry did not notice the hand that flew out and dragged him into a nearby passageway, scaring him half to death when he saw the glint of silver from their hand.

(A/N: oh ho! you may have escaped the other cliffie, but you will not escape this one. So who is our friend with the silver hand? Tune in next time to be sure and for now I would love to hear your guess in a REVIEW!!

btw sry this took so long)


	12. Chapter 12: Jawdropping

Disclaimer: I **DO NOT** OWN HARRY POTTER! I SWEAR!

(A/N: **Note** This is not a Lily/Harry ship in any way. They are just friends. All this is doing is setting up something else that will happen later. Now, enjoy!)

Chapter 12: Jaw-Dropping

Harry panicked when the hand extended itself into his path and grabbed hold of his robes pulling him behind a tapestry, before proceeding to clamp down on his mouth. He reacted quickly, grasping the arm and pulling it off his face with surprising force and whipped around, twisting the kidnapper's arm and pointing his wand to their face, his paranoid reflexes taking over.

"Merlin, Jameson, for someone so scrawny, you are surprisingly strong," a voice that sounded pained emanated from the person in his grip, somehow still managing to laugh.

Harry shivered as that bark-like laughter met his ears and released the animagus quickly. What a cruel thing to have happen right now, to meet his godfather's murderer and then have to see him again just as the memory of his death is replaying once more in his mind. Clasped tightly in his hand he had James' (and eventually Harry's) invisibility cloak which, Harry realized, he had mistaken for Pettigrew's artificial platinum hand.

"What's with the violent reaction?" Sirius said, his tone light and easy but beneath it was a trace of concealed curiosity, reminding Harry strongly of his childish snooping in first year. That desire to uncover the mystery had not completely faded in him but, for the most part, he had had enough excitement in his life. However, it seemed Sirius had not yet outgrown that self-indulgent longing to find out other people's secrets.

"Don't sneak up on me," Harry said, not answering the question, "or pull what you just did again, please."

"What were you doing with my cousin?" Sirius asked, pushing the matter aside for the moment because this issue was more important in his mind.

"Talking," Harry replied dryly.

"You've got some nerve," Sirius said, Harry's answer lighting a fuse, "They're my family and I want to know what you were talking to them about."

"What I do and do not discuss with other people is not your concern," Harry said, forgetting his calm exterior in all the happenings of the day, "But for your information, I was merely enlightening your _cousin_ of the real state of my blood as she seemed to have had the wrong impression."

"So that's all you care about is it?" Sirius accused, "All that matters is someone's blood then?"

"Don't be thick!" Harry retorted, his kind face warping into a startlingly fearsome scowl, "I simply was informing her that I am not a mudblood, as she no nicely put it, because my parents were a witch and wizard."

"Why were you talking so nicely then?" Sirius said, desperate to find some fault with him.

"Well, I have no past hatred for her so why should I be rude?" Harry asked, crossing his arms and fingering the scar on his hand. _I will not tell lies._ So much for that.

Sirius glanced at him sideways, seeming to fear for his sanity, "You sound far too much like Remus, Jameson. And you are rude because she's a _Slytherin_ and you're a _Gryffindor._ We _hate _each other, remember?"

Sirius had a rather smug look on his face, as if there was nothing at all wrong with this reasoning. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He might have thought that way before, but he didn't want to be a hypocrite. Hating someone for a reason such as their house was ridiculous, almost as bad as hating someone for their blood and although he did happen to hate this particular Slytherin, Sirius didn't have to know that.

"That's stupid reasoning, Padfoot, and you know it. Why should I hate someone just because...," he trailed off when he noticed Sirius looking at him in astonishment, "What?"

"What did you just call me?"

Harry looked at him bewildered. Then, he thought back to what he just said. _That's stupid reasoning, Padfoot, and you…_Shit! Harry's eyes widened. He had called him Padfoot.

"N-nothing," Harry stuttered, his eyes flicking around, the only evidence of hi panic, "I have to go."

With that he fled the passageway, leaving another perplexed Black behind.

* * *

For the next few days, Harry avoided the Marauders, not that, apart from Remus, this was extremely unusual, but he avoided Sirius a lot more. 

Sirius was nearly as puzzled as James about Harry Jameson's behavior, but unlike his fellow Marauder he had a shorter attention span and soon forgot about the new, odd development of Jameson's character in the anticipation of the approaching ball.

And he wasn't the only one.

The whole school was practically buzzing in excitement, enthusiastic chatter filling the hallways on what to wear and who was going with who. Even in classes there was always an unceasing mummer as students ignored what the teacher was saying completely in favor of discussing their plans for the ball.

Harry, on the other hand, when not hiding from the Marauders, was being pestered by Lily who was trying to convince him to go and not hole up in his room with a book the whole night.

"Come on, Harry," Lily whined, trying once again, unsuccessfully I might add, to persuade Harry to attend, "You have to go. I don't want to be there by myself."

"Why don't you go with what's-her-name...um Susan?" Harry replied uninterestedly as he attempted to decipher not only what the answers to his Divination homework were but also what the assignment was in the first place. He had heard her pleas a million times before.

"Susan?" Lily asked incredulously. Susan was one of the girls who Lily shared her dorm with and she also happened to be one of the shyest and most unsocial individuals on Earth. Lily had hardly spoken four words to the girl throughout their entire stay at Hogwarts, those four words being "Hi. Who are you?", an inquiry she had never received an answer to. "Goodness, Harry, and here I was thinking you had met me at least once. My mistake."

"Mmm," Harry said, not really paying attention.

"Fine, I'll tell you what," Lily said, tapping her foot in irritation as he continued to barely listen to what she was saying, crossing her arms over her chest, "If you go to this ball, I will be your date."

At this Harry's head snapped up he was sure he got whiplash, "W-what? Lily, I-I don't-"

"Oh, Harry, don't be stupid," Lily said, rolling her eyes and letting her arms fall to her side, her foot finally pausing in its maddening rhythm and Harry nearly sighed in relief, "I meant as friends."

"Still, Lils, I don't think-," Harry began but cut himself off.

Lily narrowed her eyes, "This isn't about how Potter will react is it?"

"Well...I mean, I share a dorm with him and he is, after all, a Marauder...And who knows what he might do while I'm asleep."

"I am not going to let Potter rule my life just because he needs me as his next trophy! If I want to go to the ball with you as friends I will, and he will just have to deal with the fact that this is one girl he won't be adding to his long list of 'Dated and Dumped'," Lily nearly shouted and Harry frowned.

"Haven't you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, he is legitimately smitten with you?" Harry asked, an almost imperceptible edge of desperation in his voice. She was never going end up with him at this rate.

"Oh please," Lily retorted, rolling her eyes once again, "It will be a cold day in hell before Potter is legitimately smitten with anyone but himself."

Harry sighed but said nothing. This was a battle he was not going to win, at least not today.

"Now," she said after a moment, calming down significantly from her outburst, "Are you going to go with me to this ball or what?"

"Lily, if it will get you to leave me alone for just one minute, I will go to this stupid dance," Harry said, sounding as if the very effort of saying those words was causing him immense pain.

"YES!" she exclaimed and hugged him, not even noticing when he automatically tensed up, "I knew you'd come round."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry said reluctantly, pulling away gently, "Now let's go find Remus and see if maybe he can explain to me what in Merlin's name Professor Clair was going on about in Divination today."

Lily laughed and followed him out of the portrait hole, bouncing happily all the way.

* * *

"WHAT?!" 

That was the one word that could be heard throughout the entirety of Hogwarts when a certain stag found out that his dearest Lilykins was going to the ball with no other than Harry Jameson, aka the kid who will be tragically found stomped to death covered in something that looked suspiciously like hoof prints.

(A/N: I really want to stop it here but i feel bad about my atrocious updating so i'm gonna keep going)

* * *

Harry walked down the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry trying desperately to not let any of his annoyance show on his face. Ever since he had agreed to go to the dance as friends with Lily, people had been giving him _those_ looks. _Those _were the kind of looks you give someone when you believe it is the last time you'll ever see them. For Pete's sake, he wasn't on his way to tell a bunch of Death Eaters that Voldemort looks funny. He was just going to Transfiguration...where he would see the Marauders... meaning James... for the first time since he had said yes... 

Oh, Merlin, he was so dead.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he reached the Transfiguration classroom. His breathing quickened as his hand groped for the doornob, loosing some of its cooridination in Harry's vain attempt to get oxygen to his brain.

Around him a crowd had gathered, completely forgetting about their own morning classes in favor of watching the new kid get mauled by an outraged Marauder. They all were watching him as if he was going to death row and, unfortunately, he very well could be.

Harry took a deep breath as his trembling fingers finally wrapped around the cool metal of the doornob almost slipping through them once more because of how sweaty his hands were. Closing his eyes tightly he opened the door and stepped inside, opening his eyes once he had shut the door behind him. Lucky for him, the Marauders had not yet arrived. He took a seat at the back of the room which was unusual as he would normally sit in the front row with Lily. However, at the moment, Harry was not overly fond of the idea of exposing his back to the Marauders so he took one in the far corner of the last row, almost completely concealed in the shadows.

When the four boys finally did come in, they scanned the room as though looking for someone (A/N: i wonder who-_note sarcasm_) when their eyes finally fell on his short figure hidden in the back of the room. All of them, with the exception of Remus, looked livid and gave Harry the dirtiest looks they could muster before sitting down in the chairs only a few seats down from him and glaring at him mutely.

Remus offered Harry a small, uneasy, and almost apollogetic smile, before seeming to deem it safest to ignore Harry for the moment.

When McGonagall finally looked up from the papers she was grading to begin her class, she was suddenly distracted for, at the glass panels surrounding her doorway, no less than 20 students had their noses pressed up against it, desperate to catch a glimpse of the teenage drama sure to be going on inside.

The Professor had to fight hard to stop her jaw from dropping and only just managed it by instead pulling her lips so thin that it was as if they weren't there at all.

She marched to the back of the classroom and wrenched the door open, not extremely surprised when several students came tumbling inside with it.

"I do not know why you have decided that you need to observe my class today," she said sternly, looking disaprovingly down her nose at them, hardly paying attention to the few that were scrambling to get back on their feet, "but it would probobly be best if you went on your way before you get a detention from me as well as from the teacher whose class you are currently missing."

They all rushed to do as they were told, some appearing to be horrified that they had spent so much time there that they were now late, while others could not stop themselves from sending longing looks back at the doorway where the Deputy Headmistess still stood.

McGonagall sighed and turned around to resume her class, but she was not prepared for the chaos that met her when she did.

Harry Jameson and the four Marauders were standing at opposite sides of the back of the room with their wands out and sending spells at each other with such speed that the human eye could barely keep up.

This time, McGonagall could not prevent her mouth from falling open.

* * *

(A/N: Don't forget to review! ) 


	13. Chapter 13: Through the Looking Glass

Disclaimer: Look, I don't own it okay. Sheesh how many times do I have to say it?

**Chapter 13: Through the Looking Glass**

Harry watched Professor McGonagall with sharp eyes as she glanced up from her papers only to see the commotion at the door. Every fiber of his being was silently pleading that she would not go and deal with it, thereby turning her back to whatever went on in the classroom. Unfortunately, his prayers were not answered as she walked briskly to the door and began to reprimand the students.

Harry gave a nearly imperceptible wince as the four Marauders stood swiftly and marched to over to the place where he was desperately trying to make himself smaller.

"So, Jameson," James snarled, his hazel eyes hard and foretelling of the merciless punishment to come, "You think this is funny do you? Everyone knows that Lily is my girl."

The whole class suddenly fell deathly silent, as everyone turned in their seats to watch the exchange. Lily wasn't there.

"Look, James," Harry began, but Sirius cut him off.

"That was a really rotten thing to do. You know how much James likes her, but you asked her anyway. I thought you were alright but I can see I was sorely mistaken."

Harry frowned, "Guys, we're just going as friends. And anyway, she asked me."

"Bollocks!" said James disbelievingly, "You know what you did. Don't try to pawn this off on her."

"I'm not pawning this off on her," Harry protested, "Ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

"Don't drag her into this, Jameson," said James dangerously, the warning clear in his voice.

"She is already in this, Potter," Harry said, getting annoyed. Was his father beyond any form of reason? For Merlin's sake, they weren't even going as real dates.

"I saw you ogling her the first night you came here," James accused, "Don't even try to deny it!"

"I was not ogling her," Harry said, "I barely even knew her."

"You think just because you look like me, you can get Lily. Well, I'm telling you now, Jameson, I'm not going to stand for it-"

"Do you hear yourself?!" said Harry incredulously, "We are going as friends. Can't you get that into your head?"

James whipped out his wand, eyes smoldering, and wasted no time, "Reducto!"

Harry sidestepped the curse without even thinking about it but then what James had done finally registered, "What are you doing?!"

James didn't reply but bit out another curse, which Harry sidestepped once more.

Then, Harry saw the rest of the Marauders pull out their wands, Remus rather reluctantly, and knew there was no way out of this.

He pulled out his own wand just in time to mutter, "Protego" and save himself from a rather nasty furnunculous hex.

"I don't, _Protego_, want to, _Stupefy_, fight you!" Harry said desperately.

"Why? You afraid you're gonna lose?" James said spitefully.

Harry growled with impatience. This was crazy! However, he gave up on trying to talk them out of it and merely focused on ending this as quickly as possible with little damage done.

Remus wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to duel Harry but the Marauders were his friends and the ones who stayed with him even though he was a werewolf. He couldn't lose them. So, he decided it was best to just fight him now and apologize profusely for it later.

Professor McGonagall was watching the fight with wide eyes, trying to register what it was she was seeing. Some part of her mind was marveling at the skill being displayed, while the other part seemed to be going into something like a shock induced coma. Finally, her duties as a Professor broke through and she closed her mouth immediately.

The cat animagus strode over to the teens and pulled out her wand, "Immobulous!"

The Marauders froze.

"That is enough!" McGonagall said furiously, in her anger not even noticing that the spell did not affect Harry, "In all my years, I have never had anyone decide to duel in my classroom."

She released the spells hold on them and Marauders fell to the ground, "Explain yourselves!"

"Well, you see, Minnie," said Sirius, "We, uh-"

"Mr. Black," McGonagall said disapprovingly, "Do not refer to me as anything but Professor."

"Well then, _Professor_," Sirius said putting a lot of emphasis on the word, "You see, what happened is, uh…"

"He's going to the ball with Lily Evans!" Remus blurted out.

McGonagall was silent for a moment. Then, around her the air began to almost crackle, her nostrils flared, and her lips became nonexistent. In a deadly voice, trembling with rage she said, "Do you mean to tell me that you attacked Mr. Jameson because he and Miss Evans are going as dates to this ball?!"

Not knowing what else to do the Marauders remained silent. When her gaze didn't move after a few seconds, James' eye began to twitch. Then, Remus began to worry with his tie, keeping his eyes focused on the floor all the while. But, when her glare remained trained on them for a whole minute, Pettigrew began to fidget and then nodded tremulously.

"50 points from Gryffindor!" McGonagall bellowed, "And you're lucky it isn't more!"

She eyed their jinx afflicted bodies (Peter was covered with boils, Remus' hair was down to the middle of his back, James' tongue was tied in a multitude of knots, and Sirius' legs were dancing around paying absolutely no need to the rest of the body being wildly thrown around that they were attached to) with distaste and then her gaze moved to Harry Jameson. He was standing there calmly, without a spell upon him.

McGonagall did a double take. '_What?!_' some part of her mind screamed, 'but it was four against one!'

She shook her head and pushed the matter to the back of her mind. Turning back to the Marauders she said, "Go visit Madame Pomfrey and get cleaned up. And all four of you have detention with me for the next two weeks for assaulting a fellow student."

James and the others got up and, after giving Harry one last resentful look, stalked out of the classroom. Remus glanced back at Harry apologetically before following on shaking legs, as he had also been hit by a jelly legs jinx.

Harry sat down heavily in his chair and buried his head in his hands. He hated that his father probably loathed him now. It hurt him more than he would have guessed. He had lived his whole life having people tell him how his parents would have felt if they had been alive.

"_Your parents would be so proud."_

"_Your mother loved you very much."_

All those times he had heard those words, he had wanted to believe them so badly and some part of him did. And now he has the chance to see how his parents felt about the person he had become albeit from a teenage perspective and he had hoped that all those things people had told him would be true. Now his father hated him. And that hurt more than anything else. He was really starting to regret his decision to attend the ball.

Harry couldn't focus for the rest of the class and barely realized that the bell had rung. He left the classroom in a daze, paying no attention to his surroundings as he was too deep in thought. Then, he realized something. _Lily had never come to class. _

That was more than enough reason to worry. Lily never missed class. Ever. Or at least not without telling him first. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her at breakfast either.

Disregarding the fact that he had Potions soon, he hurried to his dormitory. Bursting into the room, he rushed over to his trunk and removed the spells around it. Flinging it open, he began digging through it frantically. Finally, he found what he was looking for: an old, blank piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered quickly.

Ink immediately began to spread across the page to create the Marauders Map. He scanned the map looking for Lily Evans anxiously. He finally spotted her in the passageway behind the mirror on the fourth floor, the one Fred and George had told him was caved in.

He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room. After rushing down countless flights of stairs he reached the fourth floor and glanced at the map again. Following the hallways leading to the secret passageway he finally reached the mirror. It was large and framed in ornately engraved silver set with numerous gemstones. He studied the map to see his figure tapping the large sapphire embedded in the right side of the frame three times with his wand.

As soon as he did so, the glass melted away and Harry stepped through wiping the map and tucking it back into his pocket. Behind him the glass flew back into place.

He looked around the dark passageway for a moment and then withdrew his wand.

'Lumos,' he thought and a light appeared at the end of his wand, flooding the passageway with a soft light.

Once the last of the darkness had been chased away it revealed a small redheaded girl, curled up on the stone floor sobbing silently into her hands.

Harry's eyes widened and he lowered his wand. "Lily?" he whispered, taking a step forward.

His mother did not reply.

Harry knelt before her slight form which was shaking and gently tugged her hands away, "What's wrong?"

To his surprise, she leapt at him and latched her arms around his neck, weeping into his shoulder.

He patted her back awkwardly and simply held her for a little while, rocking her back and forth.

"Can you tell me what's the matter?" he murmured after a while.

She mumbled into his shirt and he bent his head down to hear, "They- they're gone."

Harry frowned, "Who's gone, Lils?"

"M-my parents," she said shakily, burrowing her head further into his shoulder, "I-I got a l-letter this morning. He-he killed them."

Harry's eyes widened, "Voldemort?"

Lily's head jerked away from his shoulder and stared up at him, her eyes equally wide, "You-you said his name."

Harry winced, inwardly berating himself. No one said his name here except for Dumbledore, "Er- yeah I did."

"Why? Why would he kill them, Harry?" Lily whispered, trembling, tears still streaming down her face, "Never mind. I know why. It's because I'm a witch. My being a witch got them killed. It's all my fault."

She curled into the fetal position, her whole body being wracked with sobs.

Harry crawled over to her and put his finger under her chin, gently lifting it so that she was looking him directly in the eyes.

"Don't you ever say that," Harry said firmly, "This was not your fault. Voldemort is evil. He wants to get rid of all the muggles. It was him who did this, not you. It isn't your fault."

He settled against the wall of the passageway and wrapped a comforting arm around her, "I know how you're feeling."

"How?" Lily asked, lowering her eyes to the floor, "You still have your parents don't you?"

"No," Harry replied, shaking his head, "They died when I was a baby."

Lily's head snapped up, "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," Harry said reassuringly, "That was a long time ago."

"Can you- can you remember them at all?" she asked tentatively.

"No," Harry replied sadly, "But I still know how it feels to lose a parent at this age. My godfather was the only father figure I have ever known and he…passed away last year."

Harry shut his eyes tightly as the memory of Sirius falling through the veil flashed before his eyes once more. He opened them once more when he felt Lily's hand on his arm.

"Voldemort killed him too," Harry said in a choked voice. Then, he berated himself for letting such emotion to show. He cleared his throat and continued, "I-I miss him. But it does get better, Lils. Some part of you will always miss them, but eventually you'll learn how to move on. I don't mean to forget them, you can't ever do that, but you'll get on with your life, get married (maybe even to Potter), and start your own family. Even though it may not seem like it now, you will be happy again. And just know in your heart that they're watching over you and that they want you to be happy."

Lily smiled weakly at the comment about Potter, "Thanks Harry."

"You're allowed to be sad, Lily," Harry said delicately, "Just…don't let it rule your life."

Lily crawled closer to him and buried her head into his shoulder once more, seeking comfort, "Stay with me?"

"Of course," Harry replied, with a sad smile.

They stayed there for a while, Harry just holding the girl who is going to be his mother as she wept for her own parents, not knowing that she was going to perish much like they did.

Eventually, she tired herself out and fell asleep in his arms. Harry sat there for a minute and then glanced at his watch. It was already dinner time. He debated for a moment before scooping Lily into his arms and heading toward the Hospital Wing.

He knocked on the large wooden doors and they opened to reveal tired looking Poppy Pomfrey.

Her eyes widened when they landed on the girl in his arms, "What happened to Miss Evans, Mr. Jameson?"

Harry strode inside the wing and placed her on one of the empty beds.

"Her parents were killed, Madame," he whispered so as not to wake Lily.

"Oh!" Pomfrey exclaimed looking at the young witch with sympathy, "The poor dear."

"I thought that she shouldn't be left alone just yet," Harry said, "She just found out this morning. Also, she might need a calming potion when she wakes up. It hit her pretty hard."

"Of course, of course," Madame Pomfrey murmured as she bustled over to her potions cabinet, "Perhaps dreamless sleep as well."

Harry nodded and moved to leave when suddenly he paused, "Um, Madame Pomfrey?"

"Yes, Mr. Jameson?" said Madame Pomfrey turning to look at him.

"Well, you see," Harry said, fidgeting a little, "I didn't know where she was so I went looking for her. When I found her, she was in pretty bad shape so I tried to comfort her and we, uh, stayed there for a bit. And the thing is, we missed classes, so I was wondering-?"

Madame Pomfrey smiled kindly and cut off his rambling, "I'll inform the Headmaster of the circumstances and to excuse you."

"Thank you," Harry said, relieved, "I just didn't want Lily to get into trouble. She'll be mortified as it is."

Madame Pomfrey chuckled, "Alright, now you should head off to dinner."

Harry nodded and left quickly. Madame Pomfrey smiled at the spot where he was just standing and then glanced back at the sleeping redhead. 'Such a nice boy,' she thought and then turned back to the potions.

Lily came back to awareness slowly, feeling too warm and comfortable on the soft bed to want to wake up. Eventually she realized she wouldn't be falling back asleep and opened her eyes drowsily to be greeted with the sight of a room, lit with bright sunlight meaning it must have been late morning.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she sat straight up in bed. _Wait a moment, late morning on a Friday? She was late for classes!!!!_

Lily scrambled out of the bed and began looking around for her shoes when she abruptly realized something. She wasn't in her dormitory; she was in the hospital wing. But what would she be doing there?

Then, all the horrible events of the previous day swept over her and she sat down on the bed once more with seeming to realize what she was doing. They were gone. Her parents; the people who gave her life, loved her, raised her; were gone forever. And it was all her fault.

"_Don't you ever say that,"_ Harry's words from the day before floated through her mind, _"This was not your fault. Voldemort is evil. He wants to get rid of all the muggles. It was him who did this, not you. It isn't your fault."_

Lily blushed when she recalled the way she had acted when Harry came. It was so nice of him to stay with her and comfort her. Lily was certain she had found an extraordinary friend in Harry Jameson.

…

Who had lost his parents.

…

Just like she had.

Silent tears streamed down her face and she buried her head in her hands, crying softly.

A few minutes later Lily felt warm arms envelop her and she jumped a bit. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

Raising her eyes she could see that it was Madame Pomfrey.

"That's it, dear," she murmured, "Let it all out."

Lily curled up in the woman's embrace, taking the offered comfort, and wept.

This was the sight that greeted Harry when he went to the hospital wing to check on her during lunch.

After debating what to do in his head, he finally shut the door quietly and left for the kitchens. He would come back later.

So, around dinner time he made his way up to the hospital wing once more, feeling exhausted. It had been a long day.

James was absolutely determined to make Harry pay for taking Lily to the ball. It had taken the combined efforts of Sirius, Remus, and Peter to stop him from giving him a right beating in front of Dumbledore who was strolling down the hallway just as they were.

Harry had done his best to avoid these confrontations by skirting them and taking the less transited routes to his classrooms but once he arrived in said classes the best he could do was pray that the teacher would be able to prevent anything unfortunate from occurring. McGonagall, for one, was watching the Marauders like a hawk, only daring to turn her back for one second before whipping around once more to eye them warily.

And now Harry realized he had never known how much energy it takes to avoid people. He was so tired, but he didn't want to go to bed yet. He was worried about Lily. Looking at her crying in Madame Pomfrey's arms, it was hard to remember that this was the girl who would someday be his mother. She looked so small and vulnerable. But eventually she would die to save him.

Harry shook his head sharply. _Don't think about that. _

He was wrenched rather unceremoniously from his thoughts when he walked headlong into someone, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Rubbing the back of his head tenderly he crawled around looking for his glasses, all the while apologizing, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

He jumped when he felt the person place his glasses in his hand and hurriedly put them on only to have his eyes focus on the face of Remus Lupin.

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling and picking a book up from the ground, "I was reading, so I wasn't looking either. Probably not the smartest thing to do, huh?"

Harry smiled weakly, glad that at least Remus didn't seem to hate him like James and Sirius did.

"Oh and Harry," Remus said, fidgeting a bit, "I'm…really sorry for what happened in Transfiguration. It's just that the Marauders are my only friends and I really don't like to make them mad at me and-"

Harry cut off his further rambling by saying, "It's okay. I understand."

He hauled himself to his feet and helped Remus up.

They stood in awkward silence, both not sure what to say.

"Hey, Harry," Remus said finally, "I noticed that Lily wasn't class these past few days. Where is she?"

Harry ran a hand tiredly over his face and sighed, "She's in the hospital wing."

"Why? Is she ill?" Remus asked, immediately concerned.

"She's fine," Harry hesitated, "Her…parents were killed."

"Oh," Remus breathed, "That's awful."

"Yeah, and it hit her pretty hard, so I took her to Madame Pomfrey," Harry said, "Listen, Remus, I don't know if she wants to tell people yet. So, would you mind, um, keeping it quiet for a bit? It's not really my news to tell."

Remus nodded at once, "Of course. And, uh, give her my condolences, would you? I'll try to visit if I can."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

Without further ado he turned on his heel and headed in the direction of the hospital wing once more, leaving Remus to wonder after him.

Harry entered the wing quietly only to see Lily sleeping on the bed. He sat in a chair beside her and watched her for a few minutes. He had never known how his mother's parents died. Now he had to mourn the loss of the grandparents he had never known. What would life have been like if he had grown up with them instead of his aunt? Probably loads better, not that that would be hard. Harry thought briefly of the harsh punishments he had under their care. Yes, life would have been better.

Without even realizing it, he fell into a restless sleep in the chair filled with dreams of dead grandparents and bellowing, beat-colored uncles.

(A/N: Sorry it took so long! And please REVIEW!!!!)


	14. Chapter 14: Making a Mess

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (Don't you love how original I am)

(A/N: A word to my readers,

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews I have been receiving. I'm sorry I haven't gotten this out earlier but life has been extremely hectic. Anyhow, all of you have been really sweet and encouraging in the reviews I've gotten and I really appreciate it.

Also, for the person who sent me this:

From: anonymous

-------------------

your stories suck. please stop writing.

I would just like to thank you for your _very_ honest opinion and for all the constructive criticism you have given me. It is sure to really improve my writing as well as my self esteem. After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, now I would just love to give you some advice. Instead of leaving polite messages such as the one above (the please really added something by the way), for a story you obviously do not overly enjoy, I would recommend just leaving the page and looking somewhere else. But thanks again, it has been a while since I've read something so eloquently phrased as that review, lol.

Anyways, you guys have been great! And I really do like to hear your thoughts, ideas, and opinions, particularly when it's constructive as opposed to nasty. Hope you enjoy! And please REVIEW!)

**Chapter 14: Making a Mess**

After dinner on Friday, found a figure sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, with their eyes seemingly glued to the portrait hole. When someone finally entered the room, their eyes met the hazel irises that were practically melting holes through the glasses in front of them with the intensity of their gaze. Remus winced and making his way over flopped into a chair beside James, whose eyes hadn't shifted once from the doorway.

"She's not coming," Remus sighed, and James' eyes flickered over him for a fraction of a second.

"What makes you say that?" he asked vaguely, pupils focusing once more on the closed portrait hole.

"She's in the hospital wing."

And before he knew it, Remus was suddenly tied to the chair with the throw blanket that had been on the back of it, and James was bearing down on him, with a menacing glint in his eye.

"Tell me what you know," he growled dangerously, the look on his face foretelling of horrific things to come should he fight back.

Remus merely nodded fearfully and prepared himself for the coming interrogation, determined not to break his promise to Harry.

Now some of you may wonder how on earth it was possible, for Remus as a werewolf with amazing reflexes to be captured by a teenage boy. However, for James, when it comes to Lily, nothing is impossible (except for getting her to agree to go on a date, of course).

* * *

Lily awoke to patches of sunlight dancing across her face. Smiling into the warmth, she opened her eyes, and was surprised to find Harry Jameson asleep in the chair next to her.

After debating with herself for a few minutes, she stretched out a tentative hand and prodded him gently.

Harry woke up immediately and flinched violently away from the touch. Unfortunately, the sudden movement was too much for the rickety old chair and it tipped over backwards, making Harry give a short yell of surprise before he was sprawled on the floor.

Lily buried her face in the covers, leaving only her tearing eyes visible as her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

"Are-Are y-you," she choked on her giggles, wiping her streaming eyes, "Are you o-okay?"

"Yep, yeah I'm okay," said Harry rather dazedly, rubbing the back of his head tenderly as he clambered to his feet, "Well…I'm up."

Lily couldn't help herself as she burst out laughing. Somewhere, deep in her mind, she was wondering why he had reacted so strongly to a slight touch, but that part was soon overridden by giggles.

Harry scowled playfully at her as he righted his chair and sat down, scrutinizing her closely.

"Are you alright?"

Lily sobered immediately as she looked sadly back at him, "I'm getting better. Thank you for everything, Harry."

He waved his hand dismissively, "Don't mention it."

She smiled weakly at him, glancing once more to the sun filtering through the window.

"Hey," Harry began hesitantly, then paused, "…do you..do you want to go for a walk or something?"

Lily thought for a moment, then smiled slightly, "Yes, actually. A walk would be lovely."

Harry grinned, "Let's go then."

And with that, the two teens left the ward, never noticing Madame Pomfrey watching them through the curtains of her office and smiling secretly.

"Such a sweet boy," she whispered to herself, before returning to the medical papers she had been examining the night before.

* * *

"That's all I know!!!! I swear!!!"

"Don't lie to me, Moony."

"I'm not, please make it stop, make it stop!!!"

"Fine!" James conceded sulkily and canceled the tickling spell.

As Remus recovered from the torture, he glared resentfully at the boy who had the gall to call him a friend. Cruelty like that was inhuman. He was worse than Voldemort! Resorting to threatening him with revealing his stuffed rabbit, now that was just below the belt. And tickling him! James knew how much Remus hated looking undignified, and that humiliating episode had definitely wounded his pride. But the werewolf was also proud of himself. After all, even though James had gone to extreme measures to get every smidgen of information out of him, he hadn't revealed Lily's secret. '_And how could I?'_ Remus thought bitterly '_After all, no one knows how to keep a secret better than me."_

"Are you sure?" James asked, AGAIN.

"YES!" Remus said, extremely irritated now, "I'm damn sure, actually; just as sure as I have been the other thousand times you've asked me."

James winced internally. When Remus began swearing, you knew you'd gone too far.

"Okay, okay. I was just checking," he muttered.

Remus growled in frustration and pulled himself to his feet. As much as he liked James, sometimes he made him just want to tear his hair out. For Merlin's sake, he had 'just checked' multiple times before, why on earth did he need to do it again?

"So, you're sure right?"

"5, 4, 3," Remus hissed dangerously.

"What are you doing?"

"Counting the seconds you have left to live."

"Well, Remus, as much fun as this has been," James said nervously while at the same time backing away slowly.

"2, 1."

"Bye!"

With that, James sprinted away, with an incensed Remus not far behind him.

* * *

"Harry…," Lily said hesitantly, as they strode around the vast lake, watching the Giant Squid sunning one of its tentacles.

"Yeah, Lils?" Harry replied breezily.

"Why-um," she faltered, before pushing on, "why did you fall over when I woke you up this morning?"

"You startled me," Harry replied, confused by the odd question.

"Yes," she paused, "But why did I startle you so much? You flinched away."

"Oh," Harry said, stopping dead and looking a little uncomfortable and unsure. Lily berated herself inwardly. Harry was doing all he could to make her happy and support her during this tough time and here she was making him uncomfortable. All the same, part of her couldn't help but be curious and slightly apprehensive about the answer.

"Well, I was sort of having a bad dream, and I suppose I still hadn't really woken up when you poked me awake," Harry responded after a moment.

"What sort of dream?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Um…"

Internally, Harry was panicking. He couldn't tell her what he was really dreaming about, and he couldn't hint at anything with his home life. He wasn't even born here. If for some reason, she suspected that something bad went on in his house and told someone who went to investigate, then the fact that Harry Jameson really didn't exist would be revealed. Thinking quickly he blurted out, "About my school."

Silently he congratulated himself as he watched Lily take that in and look a little ashamed about prying. After all, that was completely logical. Supposedly he had been through something very traumatic when his school was "attacked". It was only natural that he would have nightmares about it sometimes.

"Oh," Lily said, looking embarrassed and more than a little guilty, "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked-"

"No, it's alright," Harry said, making sure his voice was extra quiet, "You didn't know."

They stood in awkward silence for a minute, before Harry said softly, "We should probably head back. Breakfast starts soon."

Lily nodded mutely and they wandered back, both wondering what the other was thinking but not daring to ask.

* * *

Sirius couldn't honestly say he was surprised when James crawled back into the dorm room that night, with his robes dangling off one shoulder, the sleeve of his shirt almost completely torn off and one of the lenses of his glasses cracked, with a rather glazed expression on his face.

"What did you do to Lily this time, James?" he asked dully, turning his attention back to the castle of exploding snap card he was building.

"Didn't do nothing to Lily," he replied, sounding almost scared, instead of the lovestruck tone Sirius was used to hearing.

"Then how did you get like this?" Sirius asked perplexed.

Just as James opened his mouth to reply, the door burst open and standing in the doorway, chest heaving, and with an expression like a rampaging hippogriff on his face was none other than…

"Remus," James breathed, terrified.

And without further ado, the card castle exploded singeing Sirius' eyebrows and blackening his face. However, Sirius barely seemed to notice, the card he had been about to add still dangling in his limp fingers as he stare openmouthed at the usually quiet werewolf.

"Bloody hell…" Sirius breathed and Peter squeaked with fear before doing his best to squash himself under his bed.

When Harry returned to the dorm to get changed for breakfast, he had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into.

* * *

It's funny, when you're sitting in complete silence. You finally have time, to look around and take in your surroundings often noticing things you hadn't before. But before long, that silence becomes oppressive and a sort of ringing fills your ears. It's almost like, as a human being you are afraid of silence, because silence represents an unknown, a black void of nothing; no light, no sound. So, in a desperate defense it wards off that silence with a ringing, making you believe that void doesn't exist for a little longer…or at least allowing you pretend it doesn't.

But Lily knew better.

Her parent had gone into that void. They had been taken from her and hurled unceremoniously into the unknown.

One could only hope it was better than the mess that was left behind.

But hopefully Harry was right, they were happy and were looking down upon her even now, wanting her not to be sad, because they were better off now.

It's hard not to be sad, though.

And what about Harry?

Why, oh why, did she have to be so nosy? She should've guessed he would have nightmares about the horrible thing that happened to his school. He must've had friends there, a life, and he lost them all. Plus, he had said he lost his godfather as well. And she had the nerve to cry on his shoulder, begging comfort because she had lost only her parents.

But he wasn't annoyed, or disgusted at this act of vulnerability and weakness. On the contrary, he was extremely supportive and caring.

She could never thank him enough for that.

So, as she stared up at the canopy of her bed, studying the patterns made by the threads and the slight pulls in the fabric here and there, she let her mind wander to that feeling of things left unexplained, still lingering even after Harry had told her the reason for his reaction. Why was it still nagging at her?

* * *

As Harry stood before the door of his dorm, a sense of foreboding suddenly overtook him. Something wasn't right.

He stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what it was exactly. Then it came to him, it was quiet. Mornings with the Marauders were never quiet. This meant something weird was going on.

Never good when rooming with Marauders that were rather ticked off with you.

So, when he grasped the doorknob, in his other hand he clasped his wand tightly. He turned the handle and opened the door, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the blow.

It didn't come.

He opened his eyes.

And his mouth fell open.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, watching the sun cast beautiful contrasting lights and shadows over the grounds while sucking contentedly on a lemon drop. With such a beautiful morning, it promised to be a wonderful day, as long as the news was clear of any more attacks.

With that the twinkle faded slightly from Dumbledore's eyes. Ah, yes, the attacks.

Too many of his students were forced to grow up too quickly because of the horrors Voldemort was inflicting on the Wizarding World. Just recently, Miss Evans had lost her parents to the Death Eaters. He had, of course, immediately excused the two children when Madame Pomfrey had informed him of the circumstances.

Dumbledore winced momentarily at the thought of Harry Potter. He was not unaware of the turmoil between the father and son and he knew it must be terribly hard for the boy. One could only hope that things would be better soon.

Dumbledore stood and strode over to the window to admire the scenery once more. However, his attention was once again stolen by something in the Forbidden Forest. There was a brief flash of silver, then nothing. Except for a small movement in the grass. The aged headmaster relaxed, it was probably only a small creature of some sort. But that didn't explain the silver light….

* * *

"Oh my god," Harry breathed, "Merlin save us."

The room was completely torn apart. The hangings were dangling off of the bed frame, pillows were ripped open sending a storm of feathers all over the place, and one of the beds was even knocked over on its side and extremely scratched up.

Harry walked carefully over to the far side of the room, looking for any sign of the four boys.

Finally he found them.

They were huddled on the other side of the overturned bed, shaking with fear, their wide eyes watching their attacker warily, watching….

"Remus?" Harry asked bewildered.

The sickly boy was curled up on the floor on a pile of sheets, dead asleep.

"Shhhh," said James, petrified, "you might wake him." He shuddered.

"Did he do all this?" Harry asked incredulously, but making sure to keep his voice down.

"He went mad," Sirius said, trembling, but his tone was matter-of-fact, "Completely off his rocker. Like a dragon who's lost her egg that one."

Harry started slightly at the unusual phrase, thinking of the first task. He shook himself out of his thoughts, turning to the Marauders once more, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Peter squeaked, and Harry had to force himself not to glare, "We didn't do anything!"

"Well," James said, sounding guilty, and all eyes turned to him, "I did ask him a few questions last night but it wasn't that bad."

"James," Sirius said dangerously, turning accusing eyes on the bespectacled boy, "What did you do?"

"Well I might have tickled him and threatened to show pictures of his rabbit to the whole school," he admitted.

"What?!" he added, raising his hands defensively under the glare he was receiving from Sirius and the attempt at a glare from Peter, "He wouldn't tell me all he knew about what happened to Lily!"

"James, just because you think there's more to the story than he's telling you, doesn't mean there is," Sirius said exasperated, "Unlike some people, Remus doesn't make it his job to know anything and everything about Lily's whereabouts. It's a tad stalkerish if you ask me."

"Hey," James began, but stopped abruptly as Remus stirred.

The three Marauders curled tightly into a ball as the werewolf opened his eyes, taking in the shaking form of his friends, the wrecked room, and then Harry's amused, but slightly wary form.

Harry got up and made his way over to him, leaning over to whisper into his ear, "When I asked you to keep quiet about it, I didn't mean at the expense of our whole dormitory."

Remus laughed softly, "He had it coming. If he had asked me if I was sure one more time I would have strangled him."

Harry laughed too, "Well, if he had it coming then I suppose losing my bed to a feather attack is alright."

He frowned, looking a little guilty, "I did kind of make a mess didn't I?"

Harry waved a hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. The House Elves will clean it up. They'll probably be ecstatic at having more to do."

Harry moved away from Remus, only to find the Marauders looking at him in awe, as though shocked to still see him alive.

Then, James seemed to remember he was mad at him, and quickly cleared his throat and averted his gaze, Sirius and Peter following suit.

Remus simply looked at them coolly and swept out of the room, Harry silently laughing right behind him.

* * *

"You know your duties?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"You know your goal?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"You disappointed me at the Ministry, Malfoy," Voldemort said, gazing lazily into the wine glass clasped in his pale, spidery hand. He swirled the contents around, watched as the deep red liquid sloshed up on the sides. He was silent for a moment, then looked straight at the masked Death Eater before him, "Do _not_ disappoint me again."

Malfoy resisted the urge to flinch as the burning red eyes bored into him and forced himself to keep his composure, "Of course not, my Lord."

"In case you have forgotten," Voldemort paused, crimson eyes glinting maliciously, "here is a reminder of what should happen if you fail."

He flicked his wand and Malfoy's screams filled the air as he fell writhing to the floor.

"I cannot afford any mistakes and they will not be tolerated," Voldemort warned as Malfoy whimpered in pain, "Too much is at stake.

"Harry Potter must die."

The wine glass shattered and the scarlet eyes flashed in the darkness, as the sound of high, cold laughter filled the hall blending almost harmoniously with the screams.


	15. Chapter 15: Supposing

(A/N: Two chapters!!!!!!!!!! This is my Christmas present to all of my amazing readers! Thank you so much for all of your support and wonderful reviews. I love you guys. Hope you like it!

**Chapter 15: Supposing**

"I don't want to go."

"Come on, Harry. You have to."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"NO, I don't."

"Harry!"

"Remus!"

"Don't you dare make me go shopping in that village by myself," Remus said dangerously, glaring at the black-haired boy.

"Go with the Marauders, then," Harry said, exasperated, "I don't _need_ to go shopping and I don't _want_ to."

"I'm still annoyed at James, you know that," Remus replied, just as exasperated.

"Well, you'll have to forgive him eventually and now's as good a time as any," Harry said and returned to his book, clearly believing he had won the argument.

"I can't believe you would abandon me to the horrors of shopping along," Remus said, dramatically, "Where is your heart?"

"Off making up with James," Harry replied, not even looking up from his book, "Maybe you should follow its example."

Remus growled in frustration. He had to get Harry down to the village somehow. He was just trying to think of a new tactic when he saw someone entering the common room.

Remus grinned, 'Hello, new tactic.'

…

Harry glanced up from his book when he heard someone clear their throat rather noisily in front of him. The sight that greeted him was one of Lily Evans glaring down at him, arms crossed, with Remus grinning like an idiot beside her.

"Harry Jameson," she said and Harry winced, "You are coming to that village today whether you come willingly or I have to hex your arse all the way down the path. So, what'll it be?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry sighed resigned to his fate, shut the book and mumbled, "I'll be right down."

He made his way upstairs and Remus bounced along behind him, obviously both happy and smug that he had gotten his way.

"Hurry up, Harry!" Remus exclaimed gleefully, in an almost singsongy fashion, "Don't want to be late now!"

Harry grumbled to himself as he went over to his trunk, digging around for his jumper and money bag. He tucked the bag away in his pocket, closed the truck and pulled the jumper over his head, making his hair even messier than usual. Then he turned around to glare at Remus and froze.

Remus was staring at his now closed trunk, his smile gone, now replaced by a deep frown.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, trying not to sound nervous, and succeeding pretty well if he did say so himself.

"Nothing," Remus replied after a moment, finally tearing his eyes away from the trunk and gave Harry a forced smile, "I just thought I saw…Nothing," he repeated, "I probably just imagined it."

"Okay," Harry said slowly, and they stood in awkward silence for a moment before he said, "Well…uh, shall we?"

"Yeah…yeah let's go," Remus said and strode out of the room, trying and failing to get what he thought he had seen in Harry's trunk out of his mind.

But that cloak had looked awfully familiar…

* * *

Remus returned after a cold day in the village spent with Lily and Harry. He had gotten his dress robes for the ball and refilled his chocolate supply. All in all, it had been a good day, but the events from that morning were still tugging at the back of his mind.

He was sitting before the fire, reading , or at least trying to when the sound of three rambunctious teenage boys entering the common room disturbed him.

He debated with himself for a moment, keeping his unmoving eyes trained on the page. Then, hardening his resolve, he stood, abandoning his book on a nearby table, and made his way over to them.

"James," he said, and they stopped laughing immediately, "We need to talk."

James paused before nodding and followed Remus upstairs to their deserted dormitory.

"Look, Moony," James sighed as soon as the door closed behind them, "I'm really sorry about-"

"Oh don't worry about that," Remus cut him off, "I've forgiven you."

James regarded him with surprise.

"Then," he furrowed his brow, "What's this all about?"

"Prongs," Remus hesitated, before plowing ahead, "Do you still have your invisibility cloak?"

"I think so," James said slowly, after thinking for a moment, "Why?"

"Can you check?" Remus said, not answering the question.

James nodded obligingly and made his way over to his trunk. He opened it and pulled out his wand, muttering something. A secret compartment flipped open and he reached into it, withdrawing a silvery blue cloak.

"Here it is," James said, turning to Remus, "Why do you ask, Moony?"

"No reason," Remus replied, feeling thoroughly confused, "I just…wanted to make sure it was still where it's supposed to be."

James nodded, obviously knowing there was more to the story, but didn't question him further, "Alright then……Do you want to come down and play some chess with us? Peter's gotten it into his head that he can beat Sirius again," James grinned, "It should be entertaining to watch."

"Maybe later," Remus answered, after a moment, "I need to do something first."

James nodded again and exited the room, leaving Remus to his thoughts.

* * *

Harry was on his way down to the library, walking through the silent corridors, thinking.

Harry had returned several days earlier from the Hogsmeade trip absolutely exhausted.

'Shopping,' he shuddered, 'How can girls actually enjoy that?"

He had gone upstairs with Remus who was being oddly quiet. And Remus had remained oddly quiet since. Harry was getting a tiny bit worried about this, particularly after the events that morning.

So, now he was going by the library by himself to work on his charms essay. He would have asked Lily to accompany him but she was in the middle of another screaming match with James.

Harry groaned internally. At this rate, it would be a miracle if those two ever got together. And it was a miracle that HAD to happen. Otherwise, Harry would never be born, and what a mess THAT would be.

He entered the library, making his way to the back where he would be far away from anyone else. 'Hermione would be proud if she found out how much time I have been spending in here,' he couldn't help but think.

Settling himself in his usual chair, he took out his things and began working.

He had been writing for about 45 minutes when his concentration was suddenly interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps coming from a few aisles down.

He instinctively shrank away, trying to be a small as possible, while hiding behind his book.

"James," he heard a voice say, "Calm down."

"Calm down, Sirius?" James replied in an angry hiss, "Calm down?! That little bugger Jameson is ruining everything."

Harry froze in his seat, not wanting to hear more but feeling like he couldn't stop himself from listening.

"Prongs, come one," said Sirius desperately, "You've just got things fixed with Remus and you know he's friendly with the bloke. You can't go making such a racket in the library of all places."

James seemed to deflate a bit as he sighed and said, "You're right, Padfoot. It's just…..," he trailed off, before gaining steam again, "That arse of a Gryffindor is stealing Lily from me. My Lily. Everyone knows how much I love her and that he would do this is wrong. He's an arrogant, obnoxious, cheating, lying git. His poor parents must be so ashamed to have a kid like that."

Harry's breath caught in his throat and his heart clenched painfully. So this is what his father thought of him. Well, it turns out all those people back home were wrong.

"Prongs-," Sirius started, but James cut him off.

"No, Sirius," James stated firmly, "I hate him. I hate him and nothing you or anyone else can say will change that."

Stung, Harry physically recoiled, sitting frozen in his chair until he heard them leave.

Then, hardly thinking, Harry gathered his things, leaving the library books abandoned on the table, without sparing a thought to Madame Pince's reaction. Then he left the library at a hurried pace, breaking into a run once out the doors and ran all the way up to the boy's dormitory, past Remus and into the bathroom, locking the door securely.

Ignoring Remus' exclamations of concern, he slid to the floor, shaking and attempting to get his breath back.

He buried his head in his arms, wiping away the tears that were gathering in his eyes with his sleeve, trembling and taking deep, shaky breaths.

His father hated him. He was ashamed of him. He thought he was an arrogant, obnoxious, cheating, lying, arse of a Gryffindor.

It didn't seem possible, and yet Harry knew it was. He had heard it straight from James' mouth. His own father hated him. Those words spun round and round in Harry's head making him nauseous. Finally, Harry crawled weakly over to the toilet and vomited, collapsing against the wall, allowing the tears to stream down his face.

* * *

Remus panicked when he heard retching sounds coming from inside the bathroom.

"Harry, open the door!" he yelled, banging on the door only to receive no reply.

He had been surprised when Harry had come running into the room, only to lock himself in the bathroom. And now it sounded as though he was sick.

Finally, Remus got fed up with waiting and whipped out his wand. With a muttered _alohomora_, the door burst open.

The sight that met his eyes was one of Harry slumped against the bathroom wall, with his arms wrapped around his abdomen, and tears running down his face through tightly closed eyes.

"Harry," Remus said, falling to his knees beside the boy, "What's wrong?"

Harry didn't reply, just curled tighter in on himself.

"Harry-," Remus began.

"Just go away," Harry mumbled almost too softly for Remus to hear, not even opening his eyes, "Please."

Remus hesitated then stood slowly. With one last worried look at the black-haired boy, he left the bathroom.

He stood in his dormitory for a moment, unsure of what to do, then his amber eyes hardened in determination and he left.

He exited through the portrait hole, and headed off in the direction of the hospital wing. If Harry really was ill, he wasn't just going to leave him lying on the bathroom floor.

He was striding quickly towards the staircase when an aged voice stopped him.

"Mr. Lupin," came the calm voice of Albus Dumbledore. Remus whipped around to see the headmaster walking toward him from a nearby corridor.

"What seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked as he reached him.

"It's Harry, sir," Remus said, unable to keep the worry from his voice, "I think he's sick."

Dumbledore's flashed with concern and something else that Remus couldn't identify before they were back to their calm, twinkling selves, if with a bit more worry lines around them than before.

"Take me to him, please."

Remus was surprised, but did as he was told. How many times did the headmaster personally deal with a sick student?

* * *

"He's in there," Remus pointed to the bathroom door, "He just told me to go away when I tried to help him."

"Thank you, Remus," Dumbledore said before sweeping over to the bathroom door, opening it and stepping inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Remus knew he probably shouldn't, but he couldn't really help but listen.

"Harry," he heard Dumbledore say delicately, "What's wrong?"

There was silence for a minute or two.

"He hates me 'fessor," Harry's small voice replied.

"Who hates you?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Dad," Harry mumbled.

Suddenly, the door Remus had been listening through closed with a snap and he couldn't hear anything anymore.

He moved away and sat down heavily on his bed. Harry thought his father hated him?

* * *

"Why do you say that, my boy?" Dumbledore asked after he had shut the door with his wand. He had thought that Remus had deserved to know if Harry was ill but it seemed that this was much more future related rather than health related.

"He said so," Harry replied quietly, curling in on himself, "I heard him in the library."

Dumbledore's eyes immediately softened and he knelt beside his student.

"Harry, I know this much be terribly hard for you," he said, placing a comforting hand on the boy's head, "But you must remember that this James Potter is not your father. He hasn't even graduated yet, let alone married your mother. To him, you are not his son. In his mind, you are a new student who is taking away the one thing that he loves most dearly."

He raised a hand when Harry seemed about to protest, "I know that this is not you intent, after all, Miss Evans is your future mother, but you must understand that this is his point of view. He doesn't know that you're her son and would never think to do something like that. All he sees is you growing closer to a girl who is growing farther apart from him. All he wants is for her to love him and he is jealous of the bond you seem to have, as it is a bond he has yet to achieve."

Dumbledore watched as Harry mulled that over, sighing and tiredly closing his eyes.

"It still hurts though."

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed, "And it probably will until he finally accepts you. But now you understand that he doesn't really hate you. He just hates what he thinks you're doing."

Harry nodded slowly, opening his eyes and, using the wall as a support, struggled to get to his feet.

Dumbledore reached out and wordlessly helped him, supporting the boy now standing on shaky legs.

"What you need," Dumbledore said as he helped him to the bathroom door, "is a good night's sleep and perhaps some hot chocolate. I will have to ask the houselves to send some up. I may even ask for a cup for myself on the way."

Harry smiled gratefully and Dumbledore opened the door, helping him over to the bed.

* * *

Remus jumped to his feet as soon as the door opened, watching with great worry as the headmaster helped Harry over to his bed.

Harry collapsed onto his bed curling up on top of the covers, not even bothering to climb beneath them.

"Mr. Jameson is very tired," Dumbledore said quietly as he strode over to Remus, "So all I ask is for you to not pester him with questions about what happened. He will tell you when he is ready."

Remus nodded quickly and Dumbledore gave him a gentle smile before leaving the dormitory.

Remus walked quietly over to Harry's bed only to find the boy dead asleep already.

As he gently pulled the covers out from under him, laying them on top of Harry's small figure, he couldn't help but wonder about him and, more specifically, about Harry's father.

* * *

Remus was sitting in front of the fire in the common room, staring contemplatively into the dancing flames. He was deep in thought about Harry and the mystery that surrounded him.

"Remus?" asked a girl's voice softly.

Remus turned in his chair to find Lily Evans gazing at him intently.

"Yeah, Lils?" he asked.

"What's the matter?" she asked, seating herself in the chair next to him.

"There's something wrong with Harry," he replied, turning back to the fire and furrowing his brow.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked in alarm.

"No, he's fine now I think. He's asleep upstairs. Dumbledore came to help. I thought he was ill. He came running into our dorm and locked himself in the bathroom. He threw up, too. And then, when Dumbledore cam he said that the reason he was sick was because he thought his Dad hated him," Remus explained. He looked up to see Lily's reaction and was surprised to see her looking confused.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously.

"It's just that," Lily paused before continuing, "Harry's parents are dead. He told me so when he found out my parents had died. He said they had died when he was only a baby."

Now it was Remus' turn to be confused, "Then…why would he say he thought his dad hated him?"

Lily shrugged, at a loss, "I have no idea."

They sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes before Lily finally broke it.

"Well, he'll tell us when he's ready, I suppose," Lily said.

Remus nodded, suddenly reminded of Dumbledore's words, "Yes I suppose he will."


	16. Chapter 16: Time's Fool

Disclaimer: I don't and do not claim to own Harry Potter

Disclaimer: I don't and do not claim to own Harry Potter. It's all yours J.K.!

(A/N: Well this took way longer than it was supposed to. It's because I wrote later chapters before finishing this one. Sorry about that. But you'll be glad to know that the next update should come much sooner. Hope you enjoy it!)

Chapter:

After Harry's little episode in the bathroom, things, for the most part, went back to normal. He was unbelievably relieved when Remus did not bring up the incident, as he was not sure how he would explain it.

James seemed to have taken up a policy of ignoring his very existence, which hurt, but Harry preferred it to him picking a fight. On the other hand, he didn't pretend that he thought everything was fine now. He never entered a room without first scanning it for any traps or pranks that may have been left for him.

In an effort to forget about all that, Harry threw himself into his studies. He found himself spending more and more time in the library. He was even ahead on the curriculum in most of his classes.

Usually either Lily or Remus accompanied him during his study session but tonight they were both busy. Lily had to attend a meeting with the Slug Club (something she was NOT looking forward to) and Remus had prefect duties.

Remus was worrying Harry ever so slightly. He had been a little quiet ever since Harry's breakdown in the dormitory. Harry hoped he wasn't suspicious of anything.

'It'll be fine,' Harry though, 'It's all forgotten now.'

Shaking himself to rid his mind of these distressing thoughts, he squared his shoulders and continued on his way.

* * *

"Engarde, you yellowed-bellied scoundrel!"

"Get out of my way, you annoying twit!"

"Not until you listen to reason, good sir."

"Never!"

Remus was standing stock still in the dormitory, listening to his internal voices quarrel with one another.

It was the infamous fight between conscience and curiosity.

"Will you stop being so damn chivalrous! I need to know!"

"Do not let your nosiness overcome your common sense. Thou hast far more than merely wanting answers to consider."

"Ugh!"

"Will you two SHUT UP?!" Remus interrupted, "I'm trying to think!"

Both of the voices quieted down but not without some grumbling.

"Thank you," Remus said, sighing in relief…

Then he realized what he was doing.

"Sweet Merlin, I'm losing my mind," Remus muttered before focusing on the matter at hand. That matter was Harry's trunk.

Remus remembered how, when Harry had just arrived, he had woken to find Harry reading a letter. Deep down, Remus felt a slight pang of guilt for what he was considering doing, but it had come to the point where it really felt necessary. There were too many secrets; too many things left unexplained. Remus just couldn't trust him anymore, not until he had some answers. And his best bet was to find that letter. It may hold the clues to Harry's past that he needed.

Even though his mind was made up, his hand still trembled as it reached out toward the latch. Then it connected.

* * *

Harry climbed up the stone steps to the fifth floor, struggling to watch his footing over the large pile of books in his hands.

'Maybe I should have just shrunk them,' Harry thought, 'It would have been better than this. And if it left magical residue, well then Madame Pince and her precious tomes be damned.'

Suddenly, he paused, noticing the unusual silence of the corridor. The torch light flickered on the walls, creating dancing shadows that surrounded him eerily. He glanced around, circumspectly seeking out anyone else in the corridor.

Before he had time to turn, a stunner shot out of the shadows behind him. Harry spun dropping into a crouch, the books tumbling out of his arms. He whipped his wand out of his sleeve and stood slowly looking in the direction that the spell had come from.

This couldn't be good.

* * *

"Ouch!" Remus exclaimed as something shocked him and jerked his hand back. Then his eyes widened.

On top of the trunk words began to form in a fancy golden script:

_Signature recognized. Welcome Remus Lupin. What was the name of the werewolf who infected you?_

Remus stopped breathing.

"Fenrir Greyback," he whispered faintly.

_Correct_, the lid of the trunk read, and it popped open.

Remus backed away, collapsing on the nearest bed, putting his head between his knees.

His mind was reeling and he was having problems getting oxygen to his brain. How…?

Once he had collected himself, he stood shakily and moved over to the now open trunk. Kneeling beside it he peered inside. There was no going back now…

* * *

"Those are pretty good reflexes," a voice sneered out of the darkness, "For a Gryffindor."

Harry froze, then forced himself to relax.

"And you fight from the shadows when your opponents back is turned?" he called back, "Typical Slytherin."

The cold laugh that met his reply sent chills down Harry's spine and Bellatrix Black stepped out of the darkness into the flickering torchlight.

She watched him, her head cocked to the side, openly staring and not saying a word. Harry resisted the urge to fidget and forced himself to stand his ground, meeting her gaze unflinchingly.

"You interest me, Jameson," she said suddenly.

Harry blinked.

"Do I?" he asked incredulously.

"You don't seem to hold the same prejudices of most Gryffindors," she continued, as though he hadn't spoken, "But you don't seem to completely rule them out either. So, I suppose my question is, whose side are you on?"

Harry was temporarily dumbstruck by the forwardness of this conversation. Then, he thought carefully on how to answer.

"I think," he said slowly, "That I'm on no one's side really. I prefer to remain neutral until I can judge a person by their character and how they treat me."

She cocked her head at him again, her expression unreadable.

"We could use more people like you, Jameson," she said finally, "decent purebloods who have a bit more sense when it comes to these matters."

Harry didn't know what to say to this pronouncement so he stayed silent.

"You see," she said, "We appreciate people like you. Those Gryffindors won't. As soon as they find out that you don't treat every Slytherin like scum they'll ostracize you. It's already begun. And, it will only get worse."

Harry clenched his teeth, but said nothing.

"Once you figure out that the side who is willing to torture you for having your own brain isn't for you, let me know," she continued, smiling an icy smile, "Like I said before, we could use people like you Jameson…on the right side."

With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off into the darkness.

Harry's mouth fell open, 'Did she seriously just try to recruit me for Voldemort?'

………..

Harry walked through the common room, his mind still reeling from what had just occurred. Bellatrix had just tried to recruit him (HIM of all people) for Voldemort.

'Well, to be fair,' Harry thought, 'she doesn't know who I am. But Voldemort is supposed to have killed everyone in my school. What could she be thinking of?'

It was because of the thoughts still swirling around his head that Harry didn't notice the strange silence blanketing his dorm room. He reached the door and, precariously balancing the tower of books on one arm, he grasped the doorknob and turned, entering his bedroom.

Then, he stopped dead, all thoughts of Bellatrix fleeing his mind

Accusing amber eyes were glaring at him as Remus sat unmoving on his bed.

Glancing around quickly, Harry barely noticed as the books tumbled out of his arms, one landing rather painfully on his toe. He had just seen something that made his heart stop, something that foretold his impending doom. His trunk was open.

"Hey Remus…," Harry said hesitantly, "What's up?"

Remus just looked at him for a moment before he stood up abruptly and began to angrily pace the room, muttering unintelligibly under his breath.

Harry watched rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do.

Finally, Remus rounded on him, "What the hell is going on?!"

Harry wasn't sure how to respond and decided to feign ignorance, "I don't-"

"I've been trying to let it go," Remus continued, resuming his pacing, "Tried to be accepting of things. Respect your privacy and the like. But that! And now this?!"

He was gesticulating wildly and Harry took a step back, not wanting to be caught in the fray.

"Remus," he tried again, "I don't-"

"I knew your school was supposed to have been attacked and I didn't want to pry into your past," Remus went on, moving furiously back and forth, "But with all that you said, all the things that just didn't add up…"

Harry felt his heart begin to sink with dread, but Remus didn't stop there.

"And then the other day, with James and-," Remus paused, breathing heavily and turned to Harry, "Who the hell are you?"

Harry was at a loss for words. Finally, he tried again, more out of desperation than anything else, "Moony, I don't-"

Remus who had turned away, about to start pacing again, froze and slowly pivoted so that he was facing Harry once more, an incredulous look on his face.

"What did you call me?" he asked.

Harry froze and shut his mouth abruptly. Shit.

Remus, though, did not seem to expect a reply. He merely collapsed onto the bed with his head between his hands, looking, suddenly, very tired.

"How do you know things like that?" he asked, almost morosely, with a desperate edge to his voice, "How to you know things that you're not supposed to know?"

Harry did not reply.

There was a moment of silence, then Remus sighed and picked up his head from his hands. He reached over and pulled something out from under his pillow.

"Can you explain to me what this is?" he asked wearily, holding it out for him to see.

Harry felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. It was his photo album.

"Nothing," he answered quickly. Too quickly.

Remus' eyes narrowed and he took the book back, stood up and walked over the fire.

"Well, if it is nothing," he said nonchalantly, "Then, I supposed if I just throw this into the fire you won't mind at all will, will you?"

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as Remus dangled the book threateningly over the flames. He was battling within himself about which he wanted to save more, his secret or his photo album.

However, when he saw the book give a dangerous wobble, he dove forward to his knees, begging.

"No, please, don't!" he cried desperately, "Please, I'll tell you whatever you want to hear, just don't throw it away. It's all I have left of them!"

Remus started, surprised at this violent display of emotion, and quickly dropped the book into Harry's arms. He watched as Harry cradled the book to him as though it were some precious treasure.

"Tell me what that book is, Harry," he said softly, but firmly.

Harry looked up at him with scared eyes. Although fear of what, Remus didn't know.

"I don't think you'd believe me," he replied quietly, hanging his head.

"Try me," Remus replied.

Harry hesitated, and then looked up at him once more with a resigned look in his eyes. He stood up and backed away a few steps before taking a deep breath.

"It's a photo album," he said, "of my parents."

Remus watched him calculatingly.

"I looked through those pictures," he said warningly, as if he thought Harry was lying, "They looked like pictures of us. But, why would you have pictures of us? How would you get them and why did we look older? What was it? An aging potion?"

"Those were pictures of you, Remus," Harry replied carefully, "But the reason you look so old…well it's because some of those pictures haven't been taken yet."

"What?" Remus said skeptically.

"I-," Harry began before he cut himself off. Then, he plunged on, "My name is Harry Potter and I'm from the future."


	17. Chapter 17: A Bad Idea

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Except for. um. I think I have a few bucks here. Yep. I have about 3 dollars to my name. Pathetic isn't it?

(A/N: I have been exceedingly cruel to leave you all waiting this long for me to update at this crucial point. The problem was my life got away from me and then my computer died. I couldn't access the file where I had most of this written until a few weeks ago and I still had to write the ball scene. Can I tell you how hard it was to write it? I don't even know why. Anyway I apologize especially to emma who was very 'disappointed in me'. I want to let her know that I do read all my reviews and have felt guiltier with every one. I also promise to never abandon this story. I will finish it, even if it takes me a ridiculously long time to do it. I don't like when people abandon things and no hiatus I take will be permanent unless I, you know, die or something. But I don't plan on that for a while. So I hope you enjoy it and don't hate me too much. Here's hoping for a snow day tomorrow! Cheers!)

**Chapter 17: A Bad Idea**

"_My name is Harry Potter and I'm from the future."_

"What?" Remus asked, incredulous.

"I'm from the future," Harry repeated gently.

"And how are you related to James?" Remus inquired, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"I'm his son," Harry replied, his voice becoming a little strained.

Remus scoffed. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" he asked, "No one can travel that far into the past."

"Well, I have a talent for doing things no one is supposed to be able to do, often whether I want to or not," Harry replied, "What happened was that two spelled collided and I got caught in the magical backlash. That how I ended up by the lake where you guys found me."

Remus looked unconvinced. "Your lying," he said, shaking his head, "That's impossible."

"Well," Harry said, a tiny bit hurt that Remus did not believe him, "If I'm lying, then explain how I know that you were bitten by Fenrir Greyback at age 3 when you went outside on a full moon to look for your teddy bear, Mr. Wellington? How do I know that James, Peter, and Sirius became Animagi in third year to help you with your transformations, James a stag, Peter a rat, and Sirius a grim-like dog? How do I know that on full moons you Marauders like to go gallivanting around in the Forbidden Forest and sometimes Hogsmeade, and that your two greatest fears are biting someone accidentally or having Dumbledore find out that you've been abusing his trust and getting thrown out of Hogwarts? How do I know that last year you didn't talk to Sirius for three months because he told Snape that he could find out your secret if he pushed the knot on the Whomping Willow and went down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack where you were transforming and where you would have killed him had my father not pulled him back at the last second? How do I know that over the summer you completed the Marauder's Map which shows all the secret passages and where everyone in Hogwarts is at all times, unhindered by potions, animagus forms, spells, or invisibility cloaks? And if I'm lying then how," Harry crossed to his trunk and threw it open, pulling out a piece of parchment and a cloak, "do I have here an older version of your map and my father's invisibility cloak when both are currently residing in James' trunk?"

Remus' mouth gradually fell further and further open as Harry revealed secrets that he had worked so hard to keep private.

"How do you know all this?" he whispered, more to himself than anything, but Harry answered nevertheless.

"Because you told me, Remus," Harry sighed.

"But I didn't," Remus said quietly, head spinning with the possibilities, "I didn't."

"Not yet," Harry said, shaking his head, "but you will."

They stood in silence for a few moments.

"Oh my god," Remus said, sitting down slowly on the bed, "You're really from the future aren't you?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "I am."

"And James-," Remus started, then stopped himself.

Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, "Sweet Merlin above! He's your father! But, but-"

Harry's eyes darkened as Remus seemed to realize the difficult situation he was in.

"But he hates- oh, Harry," Remus said finally.

"Yeah," Harry said heavily, "It definitely hasn't been easy."

"Wow," Remus said, sitting down again, "This is really messed up."

"Oh, I know," Harry replied, "Believe me, I know."

* * *

The days after that conversation were nervewracking to say the least.

Dumbledore had taken the news that Remus now knew who Harry really was surprisingly well. He didn't even seem all that surprised. But, well, that's Dumbledore for you.

Remus kept finding himself looking between James and Harry and noticing all the similarities between them. They were nearly identical. It seemed such an easy conclusion to make now that Harry's origins had been explained to him. Jameson, clever, and so obvious and yet none of them had seen what was right under their noses.

He also began to watch their interactions more closely. Now that he knew, it was clear that there was more than just a dislike for aggression in Harry's avoidance of any conflict between him and James. He was also just very reluctant to cause any harm to his future father.

Harry was beginning to become a little nervous about Remus' silence. They hadn't really had a chance to talk on their own since his secret had been revealed. Remus had promised not to tell anyone, and Harry had no doubt that he would stay true to his word, but he feared for their friendship. Would he still want to be friends with one of his best friend's sons?

A few days later Harry was walking down the hall when he was suddenly pulled into a side hallway, covered in shadows, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"This way," Remus' voice whispered in Harry's ear.

Remus led him into an abandoned classroom and once the door was closed Harry lit his wand.

"This is happening far too often," Harry muttered to himself. Then, he cleared his throat and addressed Remus, "So, what's this all about?"

"I just wanted to talk more about…about the last conversation we had," Remus said, "Plus I just haven't been able to talk to you in a while."

"So, you're not upset?" Harry asked, perking up.

"No, of course not," Remus replied, furrowing his brow, "Why would I be?"

"I dunno," Harry said, uncomfortably, "But you hadn't said anything and I thought-"

"No," Remus, cut him off, "I'm not."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"So," Remus said finally, "um, what can you tell me about the future"

"I-I'm not sure I can tell you anything," Harry said hesitantly, "It might change things too much."

"Oh, come on," Remus coaxed, "There must be something. Um, are things…good?"

"They're…okay," Harry replied.

"Is You-Know-Who still around?"

"I can't say," Harry said uncomfortably.

"So he isn't."

"No!"

"So he is?"

"Look," Harry said desperately, "I can't tell you. It could change too much."

"What could it change?" Remus asked skeptically.

"Um," Harry thought, "Okay, say that I told you that he's defeated in, I don't know, two months or something. Then, you might get a false sense of security because you think you're assured to winning, and then instead you lose. That could alter the whole future. Or, if I tell you that in my time he still hasn't been defeated, then you might lose hope and instead of the resistance still lasting that long but not succeeding, it might be defeated due to a loss of morale with to people thinking all your efforts are in vain. Then, Voldemort might have taken over the world. So, you see, it's far too dangerous for you to know."

"Fine, fine," Remus agreed reluctantly, "Well, what can you tell me?"

"Nothing! That's the point!"

"But there has to be something meaningless, like…do you play Quidditch?" Remus asked.

Harry hesitated but couldn't see how it could change anything, "Yes."

"What position?"

"Seeker."

"What broom?"

Harry wavered, "Firebolt."

Remus gave a low whistle, "Sounds impressive. Good broom?"

"Yeah."

"Well of course James wouldn't let his son have anything less than the best particularly when it comes to Quidditch," Remus said, more to himself than to Harry. He didn't notice as Harry's face, which had brightened slightly at talk of Quidditch, slowly fell.

"Are you an only child?"

"Uh," Harry said, unsure, "I'm not sure I can-"

"Harry," Remus said, "I'm not the one that decides how many kids your parents have. It won't change anything."

"I still don't-" Harry began, but Remus gave him a pointed look and he deflated, "Yes."

"Really?" Remus said with slight surprise, "I had thought James wanted two."

Harry forced himself to shrug nonchalantly but inside his chest tightened painfully. He could have had a sibling.

"Ah, well, they must have had their reasons," said Remus thoughtfully, "Where do you live?"

"In England."

"Well, I should hope so. But where?"

"Okay this interrogation ends now," Harry said firmly.

"What? Why?" Remus asked looking startled.

"Remus there are things about my life and the future that you can't know. It's just the way it is. If you knew all that I could tell you, the future would never be the same place. I will not answer anymore questions. I've told you far too much already. I wasn't planning on telling anyone that I was from the future at all, so don't think that you are entitled to any of this information. I haven't even told Dumbledore," Harry said.

Remus felt a bit odd being chastised by someone who he had just found out was actually much younger than he was. However, Harry was right. He had felt that as both James and Harry's friend he had a right to know about his life. But at this point in time no one had the right to know. Not even Dumbledore had the right to know what was to come, and he was far wiser than Remus ever would be.

"Sorry," Remus replied sheepishly, "You're right. I won't ask anymore."

"Good," Harry sighed in relief as some of the tension seeped out of him, "Well, shall we?"

Remus nodded and together they left the classroom in silence.

* * *

Harry ran a nervous hand through his hair and straightened his robes, eying his reflection critically.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered as he ran his hand through his hair again, "I look like a wreck."

Actually, with the dark circles that had become an almost permanent fixture on his pale face. this was a rather accurate description of his appearance. As it had drawn closer to Christmas, Harry's thoughts had been focused around Sirius more than he would like to admit. It was silly really as Sirius Black was healthy, happy, and breathing here, but Harry knew that in the future he wasn't. More than once Harry had passed one of the suits of armor that was happily belting out a Christmas carol only to become lost in the memory of Sirius humming Christmas songs around Grimmauld Place the previous year. He had been so happy to have people there, to have a reason to decorate the old house other than him and Buckbeak.

'He felt so trapped,' Harry thought, shakily rubbing a hand over his face, 'It must have been horrible. Like being locked up at the Dursleys.'

Granted, Sirius hadn't had to deal with violent relatives but the resentment was the same. 'And I was such a prat then, too,' Harry moaned internally, 'I sulked in my room about the possession thing almost the whole time. What I wouldn't do to go back and make the most of that Christmas together.'

If Sirius' death had taught Harry anything, it was to appreciate the time he had with the people he loved.

'Speaking of which, I have to meet Lily soon,' Harry thought and then moaned again, 'Why did I agree to this? I _hate_ balls."

Indeed, Harry would like nothing more than to curl up in his dorm with a book, oblivious to the festivities going on below him. But he had made a commitment and Harry wasn't one to go back on his word. No, he would attend this dance, if only because Lily asked him to.

"You know, dear-" Harry started as the mirror addressed him and turned back to the glass, "There is this handy little spell I know that could solve your dark circles problem."

"Really?" Harry asked, intrigued. Getting rid of those would improve his appearance immensely and hopefully get both Lily and Remus to worry less. Harry had seen them both eying him with concern after he had almost fallen asleep in his porridge the other day.

"Oh yes," the mirror said cheerfully, "Simple little charm, really. The incantation is..."

* * *

A few minutes later Harry exited the Room of Requirement dark circles free. He had wisely decided it would be best for him not to prepare for the ball with the Marauders. James had been looking at him venomously all day and Harry really would rather he escorted Lily with all his limbs still attached.

As he neared the Common Room, he felt himself getting more nervous. Why oh why did he agree? This whole ball was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. It hadn't even begun and Harry already couldn't wait till it was over.

He paused in front of the entrance to the common room struggling internally. He wasn't sure he wanted to go in just yet. Maybe if he procrastinated a little longer it would somehow just disappear...?

"Hey cutie!" Harry glanced up to see the Fat Lady grinning at him, her cheeks red, and her words slurred as she took a long sip from a wine glass in her hand, "Don't look so down. There is a party to be had! What's a nice boy like you doing standing out here all alone? You waiting for your date?"

Shaking his head, Harry gave her a weak smile and the password before climbing through the portrait hole. There was no getting out of this now. He might as well make the best of it.

When Harry clambered out into the common room, he was very surprised to feel someone sling their arm around his shoulders. With the Marauders as his enemies he had quickly become known as the Gryffindor pariah. Other than Remus and Lily, no one was brave enough to approach him with the threat of becoming the school pranksters' new target hanging out there, and as the arm definitely belonged to a male and Remus wasn't really the arm-slinging type Harry had no idea who was greeting him in such a familiar manner. He was doubly surprised therefore when he turned to find that it belonged to none other than Sirius Black.

"Hello my dear Jameson and how are you this fine evening?" Sirius practically sang, grinning broadly. Harry was too shocked to reply and merely nodded dumbly.

"Wonderful night for a ball, don't you think?" Sirius went on, "The stars, the whiskey, the woman. Speaking of which, I am afraid I must bid you adieu. Do have fun, old chap, and good luck with all things dirty."

With that, Sirius winked roguishly before swaggering off to a gaggle of girls in a corner who were whispering excitedly and appeared to be waiting for their dates. As he approached, they began to poke each other and giggle and, when Sirius finally addressed one of them, the girl in question sank into a dead faint.

Harry watched him go frozen in place, staring dumbly. Then a quiet chuckling to the right of him broke him out of his trance. His head whipped around and, upon seeing it was Remus laughing at him, Harry glared before making his way over.

"How much firewhiskey has he had?" Harry asked softly as he reached him.

"None yet," Remus replied, eyes sparkling with mirth. At Harry's disbelieving look he said, "No really. He hasn't had a drop. This is just the pre-party high. Its when the insanity is accompanied by loud, obnoxious, off-key singing that you know he's gotten ahold of it."

Harry snorted, "I'm not looking forward to that."

"No, you shouldn't, " Remus said, wincing, "Sirius usually isn't a bad singer, but when he's drunk any talent he had goes right out the window."

"Yeah, he's usually pretty good," Harry replied absently, looking around at the assembled Gryffindors for Lily. When he saw the odd look Remus was giving him though, he realized his mistake, "I heard him in the shower once. Hearing him try to belt it out was entertaining, but he could at least hold a tune."

Remus laughed, but the odd look did not entirely leave his gaze, "Yeah, well, when he's had some firewhiskey its about the same volume but any semblence of the pitch is gone."

Harry gave him a small smile and then looked away. 'Damn it Potter,' he thought, 'Don't start slipping. You can't give the future away. Now Remus probably is sure you know him in the future. Too many slip-ups and he could start to figure things out. You can only hope Remus knowing Sirius lives long enough for you to remember him doesn't change anything.'

Harry suddenly felt someone's gaze upon him and looked around only to catch sight of a smoldering pair of hazel eyes. Harry stared at James' mutinous expression for a moment before clearing his throat nervously and turning away.

"Dad looks happy," Harry muttered to Remus, jerking his head in James' direction.

Remus glanced over at him out of the corner of his eye and sighed, "He's been like that all evening."

"I wish he didn't hate me so much," Harry said morosely, fiddling with the sleeve of this robe agitatedly and staring determinedly at the floor.

"Harry-" Remus said quietly, but whatever he was going to say was drowned out by a loud gasp from the opposite corner of the common room.

Harry glance over towards the sound to see James Potter on his feet, looking up at something with a look of awe upon his face. Harry followed his gaze only to let out a soft gasp himself.

At the top of the girls staircase stood Lily Evans. Her deep red hair was set in loose curls and half up, allowing small pieces out to frame her face. She was wearing a beautiful cream colored strapless gown that was sprinkled with delicate crystals. Resting on her thin nose was a mask made of intricately woven golden wire. It framed her emerald eyes beautifully and highlighted the the shimmer of crystals on her dress. As Harry gazed at her, he felt an immense feeling of pride swell in his chest. His mother really was gorgeous, but she didn't flaunt it like someone like Narcissa Black did. In fact, what made her so attractive was the quiet confidence and modesty that she surrounded herself in. It was at that moment that Harry felt incredibly lucky to be her son.

Lily was looking around the room, oblivious to the eyes watching her and when she caught sight of him she grinned and made her way gracefully down the stairs to join them

"Hey Harry," she said smiling and adjusting her mask.

"Lily, you look absolutely-" Harry started but was cut off when Lily placed a hand over his mouth.

"No flattery," she said, watching him sternly, "I've had enough of that from Potter to last a lifetime. Just a quick 'you look nice' and that's it, got it?"

Harry nodded, eyes twinkling with laughter and she removed her hand.

"Now," Lily said, "You look very nice, Harry."

"Thank you," Harry said, chuckling, "And the same to you."

"Good," she said, "Now that that's over with, are you ready to go?"

Harry nodded and giving her an elaborate bow, offered his arm, "Milady?"

Lily rolled her eyes but accepted the arm, "You coming, Remus?"

"I need to talk to Peter, but I'll catch up with you down there," Remus replied. Lily nodded and he waved before making his way over to the blonde boy.

"Let's go," she said, smiling and they exited through the portrait hole, oblivious to the hazel eyes once again burning themselves into their backs.

* * *

Harry blinked as he and Lily entered the Great Hall, almost blinded by the golden glow that seemed to emanate from every surface of the room. Even the flowers were painted gold!

"I heard it was a muggleborn prefect who came up with the theme for the decorations," Lily whispered to him, "The Midas Touch."

Harry looked to her in surprise, vaguely remembering the story from his muggle primary school. "Wasn't he a king?" Harry asked.

"And everything he touched turned to gold," Lily said nodding, "rather clever, isn't it?"

Harry nodded thoughtfully to himself. As horrible as it was, Harry couldn't help but feel surprised that a muggleborn was allowed to come up with the theme during these times, a theme that originated from a muggle legend no less.

However, Lily answered his unspoken question a moment later saying, "All the pureblood prefects immediately protested against a muggle theme, of course, but Dumbledore liked the idea so much he overrode their objections."

Harry smiled sadly but decided to try get her mind off the muggleborn-pureblood tensions. She didn't need to be thinking about Voldemort tonight.

"So," Harry said and Lily, who had been lost in thought, turned to look at him, "what do you want to do first?"

"How about we get something to eat and then find somewhere to sit?" Lily suggested gesturing to the buffet table.

"Works for me," Harry replied, shrugging. They made their way through the crowd of people beginning to fill the hall over to the long table piled high with food and drinks.

Harry poured himself a glass of punch and went to take a sip before pausing and sniffing it experimentally. Seeing Lily about to drink her glass he grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Wait," he said when Lily looked at him questioningly. He took out his wand and waved it over her drink, muttering a spell before nodding to indicate it was okay to drink it, "Someone had spiked it but I vanished the alcohol."

Lily rolled her eyes, "It was probably Black. He does it at all the Quidditch parties."

Harry laughed. "I bet you're right," he said, doing the spell on his own drink before taking a sip, "I bet he finds making other people drunk absolutely hilarious."

"The Marauders always have had an immature sense of humor," Lily said wryly, "Never mind the fact that its illegal."

Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked away. He hasn't always done things legally either.

"You wanted to find a table, right?" Harry said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah. Let's see if we can find Remus," Lily said smiling, oblivious to his discomfort.

"Okay," Harry said.

They searched through the sea of people for a few minutes before Harry spotted him. He was sitting by himself at a table in the corner of the hall with his head down. They had almost reached him when Harry caught sight of Remus face and was immediately concerned. Remus looked upset.

"Hey," Harry said and Remus' head snapped up to look at him, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Remus said, plastering a fake smile on his face. Harry just gave him a look while he pulled out a chair for Lily before seating himself next to her.

"You're not fighting with Potter again, are you?" Lily said. eying him worriedly.

"No." Remus shook his head, "Its nothing."

He went silent and after a while began glaring at the table as though it had mortally offended him.

"You're going to burn a hole through the cloth if you're not careful," Harry joked, trying to lighten the mood, "Now really, what's up?"

Remus hesitated. "Just Snape," he said finally, "He said some things. But its not important."

Harry looked at him sympathetically but didn't pry further. He knew Remus was very sensitive about being a werewolf and he could guess the kinds of things Snape would say. It was no wonder he was upset.

"Don't listen to him, mate," Harry said bracingly, "You know its not true."

Remus nodded but wouldn't look him in the eye and Harry knew he disagreed.

"Well why are we worrying about this now?" Lily said brightly obviously trying to get rid of the tension, "We're at a party. We shouldn't be sulking. Now come on, the both of you. We're going to dance."

"WHAT?!" Harry and Remus exclaimed but Lily ignored their protests and before they knew it they were on the dance floor.

* * *

Harry collapsed into a chair wiping sweat from his brow. Lily was quite stubborn when she wanted to be. She had made both him and Remus dance nonstop for almost an hour. If nothing else, Harry had at least had his exercise for the day. Lily had ended up being quite a good dancer and Harry wished he had inherited her talent along with her eyes. He felt ridiculous trying to dance up there but until now Lily had refused to let him sit down, determined that he should "enjoy himself and not mope the night away!".

At that moment, Remus flopped into the chair next to him breathing heavily. After catching his breath, he leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I had to tell her I had to go to the loo. She wouldn't let me go otherwise. Prongs is going to have his hands full if he ever does win her over. Completely nutters I tell you."

Harry laughed quietly, "Don't let her hear you say that. You won't be allowed to leave for the rest of the night, loo or not."

Remus' eyes widened in horror and he immediately shut his mouth.

Harry laughed again and looked out at the crowded dance floor. Everyone was dancing wildly to a new song by Celestina Warbeck, a young singer who was quickly spreading in popularity. Harry distantly remembered Mrs. Weasley liking her back in his own time. 'A Cauldron Full of Love' or something. Harry snorted. That had to have been one of the worst song titles he'd ever heard. Wizards may excel in many areas like medicine and such, but their music left something to be desired.

Remus poked him in the side, breaking him out of his thoughts, and Harry glanced over at him to find him grinning mischievously. "Looks like he's found the firewhiskey," Remus said, pointing.

Harry looked over only to see Sirius dancing on top of one of the tables, dancing ever so slightly inappropriately and belting out the Celestina Warbeck song while Professor McGonagall bellowed for him to get down. However, he merely dodged her attempts to stun him, showing impressive agility for someone who was pissed out of their mind, and at one point even managed to pull her hair down and plant a kiss on her cheek. McGonagall froze before redoubling her efforts to get him off the table, her face turning red although from rage or embaressment Harry couldn't tell.

Harry's heart constricted painfully in his chest as he looked at Sirius singing happily. Suddenly the Great Hall felt unbearably hot and crowded, and Harry felt the sudden need to escape from this claustrophobic atmosphere.

"I need to get some air, okay?" Harry said standing up, "Will you tell Lily where I am?"

"Sure," Remus said frowning, "You alright, Harry?"

"Fine," Harry replied shortly, "Just overheating a bit."

Remus nodded but Harry could feel his eyes watching him closely as he exited the hall.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out into the fresh air feeling the oppressive weight of the castle lift off him. Looking around, Harry saw the grounds had been made into a garden much they were during the Yule Ball. The only difference was, instead of being decorated with fairies, the hedges had also been painted gold and emanated a soft glow, lighting the paths enough to see. Harry quickly made his way down one of the paths stopping only once he had reached an unused section which ran up along the shadowed walls of the castle.

Leaning against the cool stone, Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply, enjoying the feeling of the breeze which cooled the sweat on his brow. He had to get a grip on himself. He couldn't go spare every time he saw or someone mentioned Sirius. Remus would get suspicious and then he would figure it out. But it was so hard, especially now. He thought he would never have another Christmas with his godfather. And now he was here and breathing and yet untouchable. It wasn't fair.

'But when has your life ever been fair,' a voice in his mind whispered, 'He's gone. Your have to accept that.'

Harry sighed. He knew the voice was right but it didn't change the fact that it was difficult. Harry smiled faintly as the breeze blew the hair off his forehead and swept around him. He had to do it though. He had-

"That is an interesting scar," said a cold, mocking voice, breaking him out of his reverie, "I do hope it didn't hurt."

Harry's eyes snapped open to find Bellatrix staring at him with a satisfied smirk on her face. She was dressed in a black gown and was wearing a raven mask. He glanced around subtly, but found the area to be completely deserted except for them. Great.

"Thanks for the concern but it is long recovered," he replied, his posture relaxed, but his eyes wary, "Funny that we keep meeting like this, isn't it?"

"Quite," she agreed, her eyes glittering, "It seems that we both share an appreciation for the roads less traveled."

Harry knew she wasn't talking about the dark corridors of the castle or the shadowy gardens and internally he frowned. There was an implication in those words of following Voldemort and that made him worried. Why was she here?

"I assume you have considered my proposition," she said crossing her arms and watching him expectantly.

"I have," Harry said carefully, "Did you need an answer now?"

Bellatrix smiled coldly, "Come now, Jameson. You must have realized that a ball where the teachers are preoccupied and security is particularly lax would be ideal circumstances for a little escape. Our master is ready for us. The only question now is whether you are ready for him."

Harry's mind was racing. There was no way he was going, that was for sure. But to get out of this alive, that was the tricky part. He didn't think he would actually be asked to make a choice before he got out of here. Who would have thought Voldemort would already be marking sixteen year olds? But that was besides the point now. How did he turn the Dark Lord down without being killed?

"I think," Harry replied slowly, "Joining your master would make more problems for me than it would solve."

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows, "You would choose those close-minded Gryffindor bastards over the people who would accept you for who you are?"

Harry thought this a bit rich coming from a group of people who were planning to slaughter most of the wizarding world because they did not conform to their pureblood ideals, but he answered anyway. "In addition to not wanting to give them anymore reason to hate me, you may have forgotten that your master killed everyone in my school. I don't want to aid in making anyone else suffer like me."

The smirk had fallen from her face and her voice cut through him like a cold knife, "You don't want us as your enemies, Jameson."

Six hooded figures emerged from the shadows and flanked her, three on each side. All of them had a hand in the pockets of their cloaks and Harry knew they were gripping their wands.

"I don't want to be your enemy. I merely do not wish to become a killer," Harry said calmly although he too let his hand drift close to his pocket for easier access to his wand, " You speak of accepting me for who I am. Can you not accept that?"

Bellatrix watched him for a minute in tense silence. Then she took a step back and said, "Perhaps some more time with your housemates will change your mind. We'll leave you alone for now, so long as no details about our activities leak out."

Harry nodded, relief spreading through him and turned to leave.

"And Jameson," Bellatrix said and Harry paused but didn't turn around, "there is something you should remember about your precious lions. Courageous they may be, but they are often too quick to bite."

Harry said nothing but merely continued walking away. He was about to turn a corner when he saw something that made his blood run cold. James Potter was standing a little ways away, staring at the place where Harry and the Slytherins had just been standing. Slowly, James turned his head until his eyes met Harry's and Harry flinched at the loathing he saw there. Then, without a word, James turned away and stormed off in the opposite direction. Harry sighed before going after him.

'I knew this dance was a bad idea,' he thought.

* * *

(A/N: Well here it is. I hope you liked it. I just wanted to show you a few links:

...but they won't post properly here so check out my profile for the links instead. REVIEW!!!!)

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